White Rock Helipad Still Sees High Usage

The White Rock Fire Department’s helipad on the county’s east side is utilized a great deal.

McDonald County stroke patients and wreck victims from the east side’s remote locations continue to receive first-rate medical help by helicopter.

The White Rock Fire Department’s helipad on the county’s east side is utilized a great deal, said White Rock fire chief Jason Bowman. The helipad, located at the department’s fire station on Highway 90, has been used four or five times, just since October, Bowman said.

The department serves an area of 90 square miles, working from two stations, one on Rains Road in Jane, the other off Highway 90.

The strategically-placed helipad offers a “good, safe, stable place” for agencies to access those patients in need, Bowman said.

That includes those patients who need immediate help.

For instance, stroke patients really need to be stabilized in three hours to make a difference, he said.

Depending on the patients’ medical needs, patients are flown to Mercy in Rogers, Washington Regional in Fayetteville, or hospitals in Joplin or Springfield.

Any burn patients would be flown to Tulsa, Okla., he said.

Typically, a flight from the helipad to Fayetteville will only take 15 minutes, he estimated.

The helipad was dedicated on July 15, 2017, after volunteers worked on the project for more than a decade. Crew members faced many obstacles, including clearing the land of numerous pine trees, burning off brambles and hauling off stumps.

One hundred percent of the funds came from the community, White Rock fire officials have said. Before the helipad was built, Mercy and Freeman Health System helicopter crews used to land at the Nazarene Church in emergencies, landing there on several Sunday mornings, officials have said.

The county has several designated spots for landing, according to McDonald County Emergency Management Agency director Gregg Sweeten.

Pineville, Goodman and White Rock all have landing areas, Sweeten said. McDonald County also has several designated spots that are approved through McDonald County 911 for landing purposes. Pilots simply plug-in those specific coordinates and fly to that designated spot, he said.

Helicopters also have landed in the middle of I-49 and Highway 59, depending on the emergency, Sweeten added.

“If we have a 100x100 spot that is clear, we can land,” Sweeten said.