A private air ambulance company is expanding medical flight services with a new base in Colby, aiming to help rural Kansas communities reach lifesaving hospital care faster and with specialized support.
KAKE reports Apollo MedFlight is setting up the Colby location to complement its earlier Kansas base in Dodge City (started in 2024). The company says air transport can improve patient outcomes by reducing transport time and bringing specialized ICU and ER care to patients at the scene. Apollo MedFlight flights include a pilot, nurse, and paramedic, and the aircraft carry packed red blood cells and fresh plasma.
Early local operations include a Monday mission in which a crew flew a patient from Garden City to receive care in Wichita. Apollo MedFlight operates fixed-wing aircraft and says its flights can span parts of the Midwest, including Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma, with each shift averaging one to two flights.
The new base is intended to make emergency access less daunting for rural areas that may be far from hospitals—supporting faster transitions from local settings to specialized medical centers.