The Midnight Riders of Medevac 1

Now, I may have put pen to paper on this subject before—though, if memory serves, it was at the behest of a newspaper editor who took a dim view of digressions, embellishments, and the honest pursuit of a good yarn. But that was then, and this is now.

The good folks at the Rural Medevac Alliance have announced that their flying contraption, Battle Born Medevac 1, is buzzing about the countryside, day and night. It is no small matter, as it turns out that more than half the times someone has hollered for them, it has been after dark—a time when most respectable people are asleep and most disreputable ones are getting themselves into the sorts of trouble that require urgent medical intervention.

“We are mighty pleased about this,” said one Joey Loehner, the high captain of this outfit. “Our pilots and crew now have the best sky-faring wizardry money can buy, which means we can fetch twice the number of folks in dire straits than we could before.”

It, of course, is a great comfort to anyone who needs swift conveyance to a hospital and an even greater comfort to those who enjoy having aeronautical marvels available at all hours but hope never to need them.

Now, if you find yourself lost, broken, or otherwise indisposed anywhere between the Tahoe Basin and Tonopah, Mammoth, and Lovelock, rest assured that Medevac 1 can come flapping over the horizon to fetch you. And should that horizon be veiled in darkness, fear not! The pilots now don a set of wondrous Night Vision Goggles—made of some luminous wizard glass called E3 White Phosphorous, which sounds like something one ought to handle with tongs but is the latest and greatest in nighttime seeing spectacles.

This miraculous eyewear allows the pilots to peer into the darkness as if it were broad daylight while also sparing the head and neck the indignity of hauling around the sort of heavy headgear that turns a simple flight into an exercise in endurance. The result is fewer stiff necks and improved odds of arriving where one means to go.

As for what kind of scrapes these airborne Samaritans get called to, the list is as varied as mankind’s talent for calamity. Auto wrecks, sudden ailments, hospital transfers, search-and-rescue missions—if there is trouble afoot and an urgent need to flee from it or get plucked out of it, the good people of Battle Born Medevac 1 will be there.

Headquarters is South Lyon Medical Center in Yerington, and when the call comes, it’s the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office that’ll send them to wherever they are most needed. If one must get into trouble, it is at least reassuring to know that help now flies at all hours, with eyes that pierce the dark and wings that wait for no man.