This is definitely cool!!

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Brevard Launches Airborne Paramedic Team

Paramedic Will Respond With Sheriff's Helicopter

MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. - Brevard County is about to launch Central Florida's first airborne paramedic rescue team.

County officials said with over 100 miles of waterway and thousands of acres of wilderness, they were looking for a way to save lives.

The Brevard County Sheriff's Office helicopter has been called more often to fly to tight spots reachable quickly only by air.

Twelve paramedics have been trained to work out of the sheriff's helicopter. Officials said it's a way to get treatment started on a victim long before that victim gets to an ambulance or even a medical helicopter.

"I remember some pretty bad calls. We went to planes down and boating accidents where we need to put somebody else with us who has some more equipment, some better expertise," pilot Lt. John Coppola said.

There's already a fire station, with the paramedics on duty, at the airport near the helicopter.

When a rescue call comes in, an air-trained paramedic will usually be available to be on board at a moment's notice.