Mercy Air Care (MAC), founded in 1987, is the regional helicopter ambulance service based at Mercy Medical Center – Sioux City.

MAC primarily serves a community in a 150-mile radius but has made flights to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa.

The average flight for MAC is 60 miles and the average flight time is 30 minutes. The dedicated MAC team is comprised of four pilots, eight nurses, nine paramedics, and two mechanics.

Patients transported by MAC receive care from a nurse and a paramedic using advanced, life-saving equipment. MAC often is referred to as a flying intensive care unit. It is part of Mercy Medical Center’s Level II Trauma System.

Approximately half of all flights are for the transfer of cardiac patients to Mercy’s Heart Center. The Heart Center has demonstrated clinical outcomes that are better than the best in the nation. This is partially due to the quick response by Mercy Air Care.

MAC provides rapid air transport to Mercy Medical Center, where a team of trauma surgeons, emergency physicians, anesthesiologist, neurosurgeons and orthopedic specialists are ready to treat the patients 24 hours a day.

Mercy Air Care (MAC) transported its 5000th patient in January. All 5000 flights have been without accident.