On average Ministry Health Care's Spirit Medical Transportation takes two patients a day in its state of the art helicopter.

Up close looks at the chopper were just one of the features of Ministry's annual health conference in Stevens Point.

The conference featured keynote speakers and medical experts, but it was the Spirit EC 145 that really took off.

"It is the ship of choice for the air medical industry. Many, many programs across our country and even in Germany and across the sea have gone to the EC 145 for its dependability, it's capabilities," said Debbie Martin, R.N., a flight nurse.

The chopper can land nearly anywhere, and Martin says it saves precious moments in times of crisis.

"We're able to pick them up right at the scene of the injury or accident and take them directly to the hospital from there," she said.

Martin has been a flight nurse for 25 years and she says it has allowed her to propel her practice.

"Although we're not capable of flying the aircraft, we're very much a part of the eyes and ears of the pilot, watching for other traffic and listening for radio traffic, so we really are a multi-functional team."

A paramedic accompanies the nurse and pilot on every medical flight.

There are approximately 2,250 flight nurses and nearly 4,000 flight paramedics in the U.S.