Dallas, Texas (Aug. 20, 2008) - Beginning in November, Med-Trans Corp will be providing Akron Children's Hospital with Ohio's only pediatric-dedicated helicopter, enhancing the hospital's ability to reach critically ill infants, children and teens during medical emergencies.

The EC135 helicopter will be named "Air Bear" and will feature a colorful, eye-catching paint design with the friendly image of a teddy bear easily recognizable in the skies of northeast and central Ohio.

The helicopter will be operated by Med-Trans Corp. of Dallas, TX and based at Akron Children's. Each transport flight will include a dedicated transport nurse, a respiratory therapist and a medic who all have specific training in pediatric critical care. In most cases, the helicopter should be able to accommodate one parent traveling with his or her child.

"Air Bear will be housed on the roof of our hospital and will be a wonderful enhancement to our critical care transport team," said John Pope, M.D., a pediatric critical care doctor and medical director of Transport Services for Akron Children's. "About half of our transports will continue by ground, but a helicopter can cut our time getting to some outlying communities by 65 to 75 percent. For example, a round-trip, two-hour ground transport to and from Youngstown would take about 30 minutes by helicopter."

"We know that children do better when transport teams are dedicated for pediatric patients," said Dr. Pope. "The training and equipment are all geared to kids. That's all we do."

Tom Rohlfs, VP of Business Development for Med-Trans said, "Akron Children's Hospital has done a tremendous job building hospital relationships and providing specialized care to young patients throughout the Ohio region. It is truly a privilege to be partnering with Akron and we are very excited about the future of the Air Bear program. This has been a rewarding experience for Med-Trans, building a customized air medical program to compliment Akron Children's existing transport services."

Akron Children's Hospital houses a regional trauma center, a pediatric intensive care unit, neonatal intensive care unit and burn center. Typical reasons for transport include patients with unstable airways, respiratory distress, newborns requiring specialized care, organ failure, cardiac arrest and congenital heart disease, uncontrolled seizures, and patients with arterial or central lines.

Akron Children's has three ambulances (mobile intensive care units) and will have a fourth by the end of the year. Like the mobile ICUs, the Med-Trans Air Bear helicopter will be equipped to keep patients medically stable, closely monitored and comfortable during their transport.
Air Bear will make its debut at the Air Medical Transport Conference in Minneapolis on Oct. 20 to 22. Special events are also planned to give Akron Children’s employees, community leaders, patients and others their first look at the Med-Trans helicopter when it arrives at its new home atop Akron Children’s main hospital building in downtown Akron.

About Med-Trans Corp.
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Med-Trans Corp. is the leading provider of air ambulance programs in selected locations throughout the United States and focuses on establishing partnerships with leading hospital systems, medical centers and emergency medical system agencies. The company's extensive fleet of helicopters delivers teams of highly trained medical and flight professionals to patients requiring emergency medical care and transports the patients to appropriate medical facilities. The company has grown from four to 29 programs over the past six years.

About Akron Children’s Hospital
Akron Children’s Hospital cares for about 500,000 patients each year and performs more pediatric surgeries than any other hospital in northeast Ohio. Children's operates a 253-bed pediatric hospital in downtown Akron, housing a regional burn center for both adults and children, a pediatric trauma center, regional neonatal and pediatric intensive care units and more than 30 clinical specialties. Akron Children's offers pediatric care at more than 40 locations throughout the region. In addition, more than 100 advocacy, education, outreach and research programs are provided to children and their families. Akron Children’s Hospital has earned the Gold Seal of Approval from the Joint Commission and Magnet Recognition Status from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

For further information, please contact:
Reid Vogel, Director of Marketing & Public Relations
Med-Trans Corporation
701-202-7648
vogelreid@med-trans.net