Forty-six million Americans live in rural areas, which means they could be an hour away from a level one or two trauma center. Air Medical services specializes in reaching people in rural areas and getting them the right care for their medical issue. 

"This is the pinnacle of emergency medicine, the air medical division is, it's prestigious job and it's true emergency medicine," said Leo Ball, a flight nurse with Air Evac Lifeteam base in Logan. 

Ball started working at Air Evac Lifeteam six years ago. The base in Logan services the entire part of southern West Virginia. 

Air Evac started in West Plains Missouri after a man in a car crash died in the community because they couldn't get him to a trauma center in time. Rural victims are twice as likely to die from an accident or medical condition versus an urban victim because they are not close enough to a hospital. 

"Here in the rural areas where we are, it's quite a time getting them there, air medical services negate that time," said Ball. 

A three person crew is always on duty, the flight nurse, paramedic, and the pilot. Joe Altizer is the pilot on this shift, and he says there's a lot of trust between a three person crew. 

"You learn very quickly you got to leave things on the ground, when you get the air craft and hit the start button it has to be about that it can't be about family problems, bills the boss made you mad that day, anything like that."

In 2013 three Air Evac crew members lost their lives after crashing in Kentucky. These guys say this job is a risk and they say they'd be lying if they don't think about the possibility of crashing and the family they'd be leaving behind.

"Do we think about it absolutely and you have to, in order to be safe and to follow all of the safety procedures will often keep you out of trouble, yes helicopters do crash and people often don't walk away," said Ball. 

There are times when a decision has to be made on whether the Air Evac team can fly. These guys say many times accepting a flight is a judgement call. 

"We call it the 51 percent rule, there's three of us on the crew but we each have 51 percent decision making powers. So if the pilot says yeah I can do this and the nurse says yea lets go, the paramedic can say no, we're not going," said Altizer.

Ball says this job is stressful at times, but he says he wouldn't trade this job for anything.

"The thing that means the most to me about this job, and Air Evac is an exception healthcare company, they care about us and they care about the folks we care about so I can go out and do a job the way it's suppose to be done and they support all the decisions I make."

Air Evac is opening a base in Prosperity to better serve this area of the state. The base is expected to open January 2, 2015. 

If you are interested in becoming a member of Air Evac and having your medical transport covered visit Air Evac's website. http://www.joinlifeteam.com/lp/101/default.htm