(MIAMI, January 28, 2015) – Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (MDFR) and Jackson South Community Hospital celebrated the opening of its new helipad with an inaugural helicopter landing Friday, Jan. 23, 2015. The new helipad will allow Jackson South to receive air ambulance transfers from other hospitals and quickly transfer patients by air to the Jackson Memorial Medical Center campus in downtown Miami for specialized services not available at Jackson South.

During the grand opening of the helipad, leaders from Jackson and the South Miami-Dade community participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony. A Miami-Dade Fire Rescue helicopter completed the inaugural landing on the helipad with special guest passengers, including Jackson Health System President and CEO Carlos A. Migoya.

The new helipad also brings Jackson South one step closer to becoming a trauma center. The hospital is currently in the application process of becoming a trauma center, with a decision by the state expected later this year. If Jackson South’s proposed trauma center is approved, the helipad will assist in expanding Jackson’s already world-class trauma services to residents in south Miami-Dade County.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue’s Air Rescue Division also transports to Ryder Trauma Center, Miami Children’s Hospital and Kendall Regional Medical Center who became a trauma center in 2013.

For more information, please contact MDFR’s Public Affairs Bureau at 786-331-5200.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department
9300 NW 41st Street, Miami, FL 33178
(786) 331-5000
www.miamidade.gov/fire