For more information, contact: Scott Clark Media and Public Relations 254-724-9724 or 254-724-3047 Pager: 254-762-1406 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 12, 2007

Air ambulance for newborns gets new equipment

- Gift from McLane Company helps the most fragile patients -

TEMPLE, Texas – Getting premature babies off the ground and on their way to desperately needed care is now faster thanks to a special gift of $65,000 to the Children’s Miracle Network from Temple based McLane Company, Inc. The funds have made it possible to purchase an incubator for use in helicopter ambulances when fragile newborn babies are being flown to the McLane Company Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Scott & White.

Until now, NICU transport teams had to wait until the distressed child was in a stable condition to make the flight to Scott & White. These airborne incubators, or isolettes, provide a high-tech environment to maintain temperature, humidity and respiration assistance for premature infants. This advanced piece of equipment is a Voyager transport incubator, made by Air-Shields Airborne, specifically for use in helicopter transports.

“We bring all of the equipment with us when flying to pick up a premature baby,” said Audrey Hubbard, RN, director of children’s services at Scott & White. “We have this new isolette on a stretcher made for the helicopter, and it is equipped with a high frequency ventilator so we don’t have to wait until the infant is stabilized – we can almost immediately begin the trip back to Scott & White for the care the child needs.”

The Scott & White NICU transport team regularly flies in one of the two available Stat Air ambulance helicopters to hospitals as far away as 100 miles. This special team is one of only a few in Texas providing NICU transport.

The McLane Company NICU at Scott & White is a Level III NICU, which indicates the highest level of care is available. The NICU typically provides care for babies born early, whose tiny bodies have not had the chance to fully develop. It is in the top 3 percent in the world for helping desperately ill babies survive.

Being a national sponsor of Children’s Miracle Network for 22 years, McLane Company and its employees have a long history of supporting CMN. The special donation to purchase this transport incubator is only a portion of the $4.8 million given to Children’s Miracle network nationally in 2006.

“Giving to the Children’s Miracle Network is very important to McLane Company teammates nationwide,” said Grady Rosier, president and CEO of McLane Co., Inc. “CMN gives us a way to make a difference in the lives of sick children in need, and that is something very special to all of us.”

McLane Company, Inc. is a national distribution company specializing in distribution of food and non-food products primarily to convenience stores, mass merchandisers and quick serve restaurants.

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