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It takes a special kind of person to work on an Air Care medical helicopter.

Jim Pace is a good example. Before landing a position as a pilot for Air Care in 1998, the 47-year-old flew on missions to oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Before that he was flying attack helicopters for the U.S. Army on missions in the first Gulf War.

"I was trained how to destroy the enemy, but now I go out and try to save people," said Pace. "That's the great benefit of this job. I work with great people. We go out and do what we can for children, adults. ... It makes you feel so good."

Pace is one of eight pilots on the Air Care staff, five of whom are ex-military, who are flying more missions over Butler County. In May, the base at University Pointe in West Chester Twp. expanded its services from 12 hours to 24 hours.

The move has improved response times in Butler County, which gets significantly more Air Care service calls than surrounding counties, according to statistics provided by Air Care & Mobile Care, University Hospital, Cincinnati.

Dr. Bill Hinckley, 34, Air Care medical director, is one of 45 "flight docs" in University Hospital's nationally acclaimed program, which started in 1984 and is one of the least-expensive medical helicopter programs in the country.

Hinckley said additional doctors are trained for the unit every year.

It's one of several unique aspects that turns the Air Care unit into a complete trauma center. Blood supplies, pelvis fracture stabilizers and an arsenal of medications can provide a level of care that's just not available on local life squads, Hinckley said.

With the expansion in May to 24 hours, seven days a week at University Pointe that level of care is more accessible to the growing populations of the suburbs, Hinckley said.

"We're helping more patients, and on average our response times are getting significantly faster," Hinckley said.

Air Care crews often see people in the most traumatic episodes of their lives. As Hinckley puts it, the job is "exceedingly interesting, sometimes tragic, and other times too rewarding for words."

But experiencing that level of drama on a daily basis can be tough, and saving lives is what restores the morale on the staff, said flight nurse Matt Gunderman.

The 37-year-old recalled a service run earlier this year to a home in Hanover Twp., where a toddler had accidently entangled himself on playground equipment.

Gunderman said he had worried it would be another tragic case.

But with the response of the ground EMS crew combined with the speed of Air Care to get the child to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Gunderman said the child was saved and is expected to make a full recovery.

"Everything that we do is impacted by the people who respond before us, the EMS providers and dispatch centers," Gunderman said. "We take over for them and provide much more rapid treatment ... much more advanced care, then our goal is to get them to whichever hospital they need as rapidly as possible."

Aside from being resistant to motion sickness on the helicopter, Hinckley said it takes a special kind of person to work on a medical helicopter.

"You get used to some of the gore and the carnage and the fact that terrible things happen to people all the time. ... You get used to it to a degree. But you never get used to delivering really bad news to loved ones. That's something that never gets any easier," Hinckley said.