LifeNet Cutting WMC Helicopter

[jack10562 414]

If I remember correctly, Hudson Valley stopped their air and trauma receiving services due to the extreme costs associated with staffing levels for having the required specialists available around the clock.

As with everything else anymore, costs are the driving force for providing specialized services, or not.

[INIT915 1,119]

If I remember correctly, Hudson Valley stopped their air and trauma receiving services due to the extreme costs associated with staffing levels for having the required specialists available around the clock.

As with everything else anymore, costs are the driving force for providing specialized services, or not.

That's true, they had dropped the Trauma Center designation, but until recently, the landing pad was still there, for interfacility transports out of HVHC, or for the rare, yet not unheard of instance, of StatFlight needing to stop there due to adverse weather while in flight, or an emergent change in patient condition requiring immediate attention.

[NWFDMedic 58]

It's a loss that we'll all feel. I know that at one time the state police helicopter had to be a choice of last resort in that the state does not compete with private companies. When response times get longer, I don't know if that changes.

That is an incorrect statement. The state police helicopter operates on rotation with the LifeNet helicopters as to which is first due for the service area.

[smwells 7]

That's true, they had dropped the Trauma Center designation, but until recently, the landing pad was still there, for interfacility transports out of HVHC, or for the rare, yet not unheard of instance, of StatFlight needing to stop there due to adverse weather while in flight, or an emergent change in patient condition requiring immediate attention.

I am not sure of the long term plans for HVHC having helicopter access, but the current location for the pad and the new building probably are a major factor for it being stopped currently. The existing helipad is 15 ft from the current walk-in entrance for the ER, and less than 100ft from the new 3 story patient wing and current ER parking.

Hopefully, if the re-establish the helipad, it won't be setup like Putnam, where you need an ambulance to transfer the patient from ER to helicopter, I have done many of these "inter-parking lot" transfers with stat-fight, since the pad is on the other side of the building from the ER.

[ny10570 745]

Sounds like Jacobi. Flight crew walks and usually beats the pt to the ER.

[Mofire24 27]

As a former Westcom Stat Flight dispatcher State Police was not the last resort at all we had a calender that alternated days when Air 2 or Lifeguard SP Aviation unit was up first for scene calls. The only way State Police didn't go up was because they were on a police mission or weather was bad.

[milan fire dept probie 2]

that really hampers upstate companies ..stat flight was our primary helicopter if needed .. just yesterday we used a LifeNet chopper for a serious injured boy and without it the child would have turned out a lot worse. with the serious injured patients that need a high level trama center a ground transpot to westchester from my town is out of the question we need these chopers and without them is going to be hard on the patients .. i see the business reason behind it but im not in favor of it

[Guest alsfirefighter]

It's a loss that we'll all feel. I know that at one time the state police helicopter had to be a choice of last resort in that the state does not compete with private companies. When response times get longer, I don't know if that changes.

I wonder if Hudson Valley Hospital no longer having helicopter landing capability played into the decision to drop service in the area. Who really knows what helicopter resources we have left and what response times we might expect to Westchester and Putnam? It is what it is, but we need to have a good working model of what the options are now.

I don't see how not having a pad at HVHC had anything to do with the service drop. What helicopter resources you have are the same that you had when Air 1 was not available. The working model and options are the same as they always were particularly in the area we operate...as most of us do..load the patient and get moving to the med center.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

that really hampers upstate companies ..stat flight was our primary helicopter if needed .. just yesterday we used a LifeNet chopper for a serious injured boy and without it the child would have turned out a lot worse. with the serious injured patients that need a high level trama center a ground transpot to westchester from my town is out of the question we need these chopers and without them is going to be hard on the patients .. i see the business reason behind it but im not in favor of it

Milan..you do understand that you still are going to have medevac services correct? The only difference is that one of the units is being dropped, the one stationed in Valhalla at the medical center.

I was wondering why they didn't think about trying to split the territory by the Hudson River or even keep 3 units in service and station them out of Dutchess County Airport.

[ny10570 745]

without it the child would have turned out a lot worse

I'm not picking you probie, its just a good example of something that is frequently said and never challenged. How do we know this? There has never been a randomization trial of ground vs air transport. The ironclad golden hour has been chipped away at by several recent studies and was established by one surgeon based upon a fairly limited data set and has not been addressed with the advent of modern prehospital and in hospital technology. In my own life I had a cousin involved in a serious accident where my aunt was told his only chance was getting to a trauma center within the hour. Too bad even fixed wing aircraft were grounded and he got to spend the night a community hospital. They stopped the major bleeding and he was driven to a Trauma Center a few hours later.

Its difficult to prove who actually was saved by being flown and no one all that excited to figure it out. The companies running these flights don't benefit and even after the recent spate of crashes didn't generate a lasting furor. The FAA issued recommendations for better avionics and Maryland tasked people with looking into the issue, but then everything went away.

[helicopper 1,050]

that really hampers upstate companies ..stat flight was our primary helicopter if needed .. just yesterday we used a LifeNet chopper for a serious injured boy and without it the child would have turned out a lot worse. with the serious injured patients that need a high level trama center a ground transpot to westchester from my town is out of the question we need these chopers and without them is going to be hard on the patients .. i see the business reason behind it but im not in favor of it

LifeNet is STAT-Flight. The company name changed a while ago and Air Methods (the parent company of both) operated them both anyway. It's kind of like "band-aid" or "Q-tip". We know it as STAT-Flight but it's been LifeNet for a while.

We still have the service, it's just coming from different bases which will be mostly transparent to the recipient of the helicopter.

[helicopper 1,050]

I'm not picking you probie, its just a good example of something that is frequently said and never challenged. How do we know this? There has never been a randomization trial of ground vs air transport. The ironclad golden hour has been chipped away at by several recent studies and was established by one surgeon based upon a fairly limited data set and has not been addressed with the advent of modern prehospital and in hospital technology. In my own life I had a cousin involved in a serious accident where my aunt was told his only chance was getting to a trauma center within the hour. Too bad even fixed wing aircraft were grounded and he got to spend the night a community hospital. They stopped the major bleeding and he was driven to a Trauma Center a few hours later.

Its difficult to prove who actually was saved by being flown and no one all that excited to figure it out. The companies running these flights don't benefit and even after the recent spate of crashes didn't generate a lasting furor. The FAA issued recommendations for better avionics and Maryland tasked people with looking into the issue, but then everything went away.

Excellent post!

The medevac safety issue has not gone away. Hearings have been held, information compiled, and findings should be released shortly. It will very likely impact the profit-motive operators more than the rest as it will require better equipment, training, and standards.

We'll see when it comes out.