Close call for a rescue chopper

Maybe it's true that sometimes you don't know what you've got until it's gone.

But that's not the case with Kalispell Regional Medical Center's ALERT helicopter, which is temporarily out of service after its engine failed in flight Nov. 2. All aboard survived a crash landing, but the battered helicopter is grounded now for major repairs and inspection.

There is overwhelming relief that the crew was unhurt and gratitude for the skill of pilot Addison Clark in making that possible.

And there is an even keener appreciation of the ALERT program and its long, safe history of service in Northwest Montana.

The program is a cherished asset, a lifesaver, and an example of a community's grassroots effort that took flight and stayed airborne.

ALERT was the brainchild of Kalispell logger Clyde Smith in the 1970s. He saw too many men injured in the backcountry, waiting for life-squandering hours for medical help and transportation to the hospital.

Smith and other community leaders envisioned a hospital-based air ambulance program that could quickly send skilled help to remote areas and get patients swiftly to the hospital. Rural places like the Flathead Valley didn't have sophisticated rescue programs like that.

But Smith, George Clark (then the hospital CEO) and others pioneered the ALERT program, with Smith quietly co-signing the loan for the hospital's first helicopter in 1978.

Since then, among its 11,000 missions, ALERT has flown about 1,200 people who needed immediate life-saving help.

It has saved people who were critically hurt in car accidents, bear maulings and falls. There are hundreds of victims of shootings, heart attacks, near drownings, and other catastrophic events who owe their lives to the program. The helicopter's bird's-eye view and powerful spotlight often are used in searches for missing or injured people, also.

Hospital administrator Jim Oliverson points out that rescues work because of ambulances, quick response units, and fire departments that offer vital initial care as well as clear spots for ALERT to land. On the other end of the ALERT flight is a skilled hospital staff waiting for the patient that ALERT delivers.

It is the helicopter, though, that inspires awe in a superhero kind of way. The community has long supported the program through its annual fund-raiser and has taken pride in having such a resource.

The sight of the crippled bird in its hangar last week was a little wrenching to see. It clearly pained Clark to see the helicopter damaged.

We hope he sees it the way we do. His skill and quick thinking saved people, which is the original and fundamental mission of ALERT.

For that, the program, its founders, and its contemporary saviors like Clark have our deepest gratitude.