Kerrville, TX - Air Methods (formerly San Antonio AirLife) this week announced that it is closing its air medical transport operations in Kerrville. Kerrville Fire Department Chief Eric Maloney said the local community’s aerial emergency transport needs will still be served by other agencies.

“We are aware that Air Methods has closed their base in Kerrville as part of a nationwide restructuring,” Maloney said.

“Our emergency responders will continue to utilize our local AirEvac LifeTeam and regional air medical transport agencies as appropriate. We were blessed to have two services in Kerr County for the past 14+ years. We are still fortunate to have one service in Kerrville plus many regional agencies."

In emergency situations, Maloney said first responders can call on regional air medical transport agencies in San Antonio, Uvalde, LaGrange, Marble Falls, Eagle Pass, Carrizo Springs, Laredo, Pearsall, San Angelo and Austin.

“Kerrville is still well covered with additional medical air evacuation options,” Maloney said.

“We will continue to provide exceptional medical care to our citizens and visitors of Kerr County.

“Air medical transport agencies provide specialized critical care by an RN and flight paramedic to definitive care in San Antonio,” Maloney said. “Over the past 14 years, the Kerrville Fire Department has made strategic decisions when both helicopters were not available during emergencies, and we will continue to monitor flight times and availability. We routinely request a “flying standby” that will launch a helicopter from these regional bases prior to EMS arrival to reduce the response times.”

Air Methods, which has been based at the Kerrville airport, issued the following statement Thursday, Sept. 8:

“Today, Air Methods closed several bases nationwide due to the tremendous pressures from the No Surprises Act (NSA), unprecedented inflation and significant under reimbursement from Medicare, which the government hasn’t updated in nearly 20 years. The decision to close a base is never taken lightly as we understand this further impacts access to critical healthcare services in communities that greatly depend on them. Therefore, Air Methods conducted extensive financial analysis and explored every option at our disposal for nearly a year but ultimately, determined that keeping these bases open is simply unsustainable. We are, however, always open to collaborating with hospitals or local agencies to find viable ways to keep bases open as our ultimate goal is to provide life-saving efforts to those who need us the most.”

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