Smack in the middle of one of the worst winters on record, a call came to Memphis-based Emergency Mobile Health Care LLC to pick up a seriously ill patient in East Tennessee and transport him to a Memphis hospital.
“It was January and we had ice and snow on the ground,” recalled Michael W. Nolen Jr., vice president, chief administrative and compliance officer of EMHC, as the company is most widely known. “The weather was bad all the way. Fortunately, the patient made it, but the trip there and back – with the ice and snow – took 32 hours.”
The event was the final piece of evidence the 17-year-old company needed to take a major step forward.
“We had been discussing adding an airplane for several months, and this convinced us to do it,” Nolen said.
So on March 10, less than two months after that treacherous January mission, EMHC became the first locally owned medical transport company in Memphis to offer airborne fixed-wing ambulance service.
“We have a plane, our own pilot and our own medical team,” Nolen said. “We can deliver bedside-to-bedside in four hours. We can be airborne 45 minutes after we get a phone call and go 800 miles non-stop. Typical time to complete a mission is four hours.”
The two-member team, which consists of a registered nurse and a paramedic, specializes in critical care, burns and trauma. The staff is employed by EMHC. The plane is maintained by an aviation company that keeps everything current with FAA requirements.
The aircraft is equipped with a Zoll X Series Cardiac Monitor with transmission capabilities from the air, satellite telephone communications to the hospital and physician while in-flight. Its ventilator is approved for in-flight use and the medical team is able to monitor and infuse unlimited intravenous infusions with state-of-the-art infusion pumps. Also available is a video laryngoscope for intubation and electronic real-time medical records.
EMHC, which contracts with hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities, also has a fleet of 33 ambulances, some of which can hold additional patients or team members. All the vehicles have EKG transmitting capabilities. The company also has 16 wheelchair transport vehicles, but no helicopters. (“There’s another firm in Memphis that does a wonderful job” with medical helicopters,” Nolen said.)
Michael Arndt, who served two tours as a medic in Vietnam, and his wife, Bette, founded the company in 1997. Bette’s father was Bert Ferguson, founder of radio station WDIA, the nation’s first African-American station. The Arndts, proud that their company is the only locally owned ambulance service, have instilled a strong culture of community involvement. Nolen, who joined the company in 2002 as a driver, is a passionate disciple of the founders. He says EMHC has donated more than $1.5 million to local non-profits and another $5 million-plus in in-kind contributions.
The walls of Nolen’s large office are decorated with trinkets, banners, bobble heads, photos, official passes and flags from fund-raising events he and the company have participated in. Nolen came to appreciate the importance of giving about the same time he was learning about healthcare – when he was 5 years old.
In 1970 his mother was an operating room nurse at St. Joseph Hospital, the 115-year-old downtown hospital that closed in 2000.
“That was before they had day care centers, so on weekends my mom took me to work with her,” said Nolen, now 38. “I loved going there. They gave me interesting things to do. I found healthcare fascinating.”
As he grew older, he would volunteer for work at the hospital on weekends and during the summer. By the time he was 13, he had worked in every department and even had spent time in the operating room. One summer he worked in the emergency room.
“I’d see the ambulances come and go, delivering patients,” he said. “It made an impression on me. I liked the urgency and the people there. Some of the nurses I worked with then I still see at hospitals today.”
Not only did Nolen learn about healthcare, he also found a role model: Sister Annette Crone, who ran Saint Joseph.“She was a wonderful woman,” Nolen said. “She and the other sisters had a major positive impact on me.”
His dad, who worked at FedEx during the early years, stimulated his interest in planes and air travel.
After working for awhile in McDonald’s corporate training and then for Northwest Airlines, Nolen went to work at EMHC. Healthcare had always been beckoning.
“I didn’t know a thing about the ambulance business,” he said. “In addition to being a driver, I worked in dispatch, in marketing, as a supervisor ... everything. In 2002 we had four ambulances and 40 staffers.”
As the company grew, so did Nolen’s role. The Arndts filled his head with knowledge. He was sent to everything from EMT school to executive management classes. In 2006 the company had 75 employees and 13 units. And Nolen was a director. Two years later he was COO.
In 2011 the company moved to its current location at Appling Farms Parkway in Bartlett, less than a mile from I-40 and a quick jump to Memphis’ healthcare facilities as well as the airport. EMHC’s fleet now is composed of Mercedes "sprinter diesel ambulances," which are expensive but fuel efficient and require less maintenance. The staff has grown to 220.
Nolen, too, has grown in stature. But his passion and caring have not diminished. On a recent Monday his office was lined with 220 goody bags. “May is EMT Month,” he explained. “Last night I came in and put these together for our staff. There’s company coffee mugs and some other things.”
Those who work with Michael Nolen say that’s a perfect example: Sunday night the company’s vice president comes in by himself to stuff 220 goody bags for the employees. Sister Crone would be proud.