Two days before Army helicopters are set to stop flying emergency medical flights on O'ahu, officials announced the Hawai'i Army National Guard is stepping in to fly critically injured patients.

Five National Guard helicopters will provide air transport on O'ahu for three months or until a permanent contract with another provider can be secured, according to state officials. The military flights, provided by the Army's 25th Infantry Division, will end tomorrow. The unit has averaged about 200 medical flight missions annually during the past 30 years, officials said.

"We are grateful to the National Guard for providing interim support during this critical time and for their assistance in facilitating a solution to O'ahu's medevac needs," said state Department of Health director Dr. Chiyome Fukino.

Five UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and crews currently stationed at Lyman Field in Hilo will be housed temporarily at Wheeler Army Airfield for roughly three months, according to a news release.

The National Guard anticipates handing off the service to a military contracted civilian provider on July 1, according to the release.

The unit will handle critically injured residents during a peak 12-hour period, seven days a week.

A city medical intensive care technician will accompany the National Guard flight crews on each mission, the release said.

In January, the Army notified the city and state that the Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic, or MAST, service would be suspended starting tomorrow through at least October 2007. State officials are hoping a private company will step forward and bid to take over the flights permanently.

All 12 Black Hawk helicopters with Charlie Company of the 25th Infantry Division's combat aviation brigade, along with 85 to 100 soldiers, are deploying to Iraq this summer.

The Black Hawks are more powerful than the Hughes 500 helicopters that are flown by the Fire Department and normally used for rescues, and are capable of servicing multiple victims.

Not a single private contractor has submitted an application to take over the service from the Army, said Dr. David T. Sakamoto, administrator of the State Health Planning and Development Agency, the office tasked with approving private contractors.

"We can't go to people officially but there are possibilities," he said.

Approving an application from a private air ambulance service can take up to three months.

An emergency provision that allows for an expedited application process can be put into motion but any company that passes state muster also would have to seek approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Since 1999, the state has received no applications for new service, Sakamoto said.

The cost of private medical emergency air service is difficult to quantify. Neither city Emergency Medical Services or state Department of Health officials had cost estimates available, but prices from Mainland jurisdictions point to an expensive service.

Patty Dukes, head of the city's Emergency Medical Services, said paramedics had been using MAST services judiciously in the waning days of the Army's program.The wet weather at the end of February and the rain in March also have limited the Army pilots' ability to fly.

Had the National Guard not stepped up to fill the void, Dukes said ambulance rides from rural areas that could be covered by a 30-minute helicopter flight would take more than 45 minutes on the ground.

"We can only drive so fast and we need to get everyone safely to the hospital — the patient and the paramedics," she said.

Without air support, city officials said the city's 18 ambulances and their crews would be forced to constantly shuffle around O'ahu to provide coverage for areas left exposed by emergencies, a practice that occurs now to a much smaller degree.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.