CHRISTIANSBURG -- The move of a medevac helicopter to a planned base in Montgomery County has been cleared for takeoff by local elected officials.

The move will be vital in the New River Valley for what is called "the golden hour" of emergency response, said Neal Turner, the county's emergency services coordinator. Survival rates increase when trauma victims come under physician care within an hour of being injured, Turner said.

"This move is a great asset to the emergency services in Montgomery County," Turner said.

The county supervisors endorsed the helicopter move at a meeting Monday night. Carilion's Life-Guard 11 helicopter would move from the Mountain Empire Airport off Interstate 81 near Marion to a site next to the Carilion New River Valley Medical Center just outside Radford -- once a few other approvals are obtained. Those approvals should be routine, officials said.

"It's a pretty straightforward process," said Don Halliwill, administrator of the medical center. He said design work has started on the base. The cost of the base construction was not yet available.

Like the Mountain Empire Airport, the medical center near Radford is off Interstate 81. "The hospital is really excited about having the ability to enhance the care of patients," Halliwill said.

"We feel exactly the same way," said Susan Smith, Carilion Life-Guard director.

Bob Dix, chairman of the Mountain Empire Airport Commission, said Tuesday he was not aware of the impending move.

"The husband is the last to know," Dix joked. "I imagine it'll happen in a couple of months," he said, based on how long the approvals took to locate it at the Mountain Empire Airport about two years ago.

Halliwill and the Carilion Life-Guard representatives could not give a date for completion and opening of the medevac base. Halliwill said weather will be a factor in how long it takes.

"We will hate to lose them but, you know, nothing we can do to prevent it," Dix said.

Turner said the move has the support of five fire departments, four rescue squads and all law enforcement agencies in Montgomery County, as well as emergency services organizations in Floyd and Pulaski counties.

"In essence, we add a helicopter to our fleet," Turner said.

Elliston fire Chief Malvin "Pug" Wells added his endorsement to the request for supervisors approval.

Wells, chairman of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Association, has been with the Elliston department for 50 years. He remembered the accident in the early 1980s that motivated three businessmen to get helicopter emergency transportation started.

The accident happened in nearby Shawsville, where a young man was badly injured by a farming implement, Wells said. The first helicopter was based at Lewis-Gale Hospital in Roanoke, he said. Wells knows from personal experience the importance of quick and up-to-date emergency response. He fell down an embankment just last week during an emergency call and had to be rescued himself.

"I remember when there wasn't any air transport," he told the board. "I would ask that you consider this very favorably."

The aircraft, which would move to the New River Valley, is a twin-engine Eurocopter-135, designated Carilion Life-Guard 11. Another helicopter, Life-Guard 10, is based in Roanoke.