By Greg Welter
The Oroville Mercury Register
CHICO, Calif. — BACKGROUND: Enloe FlightCare flew its first mission 25 years ago this month. It was one of the first hospital-owned air medical transport services in California and is the only one remaining.
WHAT’S NEW: Recent technology has advanced FlightCare’s capability to reach victims faster and more safely, and provide a higher level of care during transport.
WHAT’S NEXT: Before the end of the year, it’s likely the service will have transported more than 15,000 patients.
CHICO Enloe’s FlightCare helicopter flew for 16 years without an accident, but when it came, it shocked the close-knit team to its core.
On the evening of Sept. 22, 2001, the original FlightCare helicopter, an Aerospatiale AS 350-B, plunged to the ground after hitting some trees near Butte Meadows.
Chico pilot Ron Jones, 54, was killed. Nurses Stacie Reed and Mike Ferris survived the crash with major injuries. They were responding to victims in a vehicle crash with a tree.
In 2005, the FAA issued a probable cause in the accident, stating that during a steep approach to a confined landing zone, dust and dirt created by the downwash of the blades created a “brownout” condition about 30 feet from the ground. At about 15 feet above the ground, Jones reportedly attempted to pull up and do a “go around,” but the chopper drifted and impacted a tree.
Immediately following the tragic crash, FlightCare was without a helicopter. Other air medical transport services in Northern California took up the slack, and FlightCare members stood by as a team from Reach Air Ambulance of Santa Rosa worked out of Enloe. Judy Cline, Trauma Coordinator and Chief Flight Nurse, said the crew still trained for missions and performed other duties in the hospital, but also had several meetings, preparing for the day when they would once again be flying.
That day came a bit sooner than expected when an air medical transport service in Reno let Enloe have a helicopter that was being built for them. Marty Marshall, Enloe’s first pilot, said Enloe paid $1.6 million for the Aerospatiale AStar 350B2, a craft similar to the original, but with a more powerful engine. Marshall said the price on the helicopter today would be about $2.2 million.
A flight nurse with Mountain LifeFlight, who also worked in the critical care unit at Enloe, was killed in a helicopter crash in November. Clinton Reger was 40.
No typical day, no typical mission
When they aren’t flying, FlightCare personnel work in other departments of the hospital. Cline described most of what they do as “putting out fires” in the emergency room. But at least one member of the team is always monitoring communications in case a mission is called.
That’s about as routine as a FlightCare member’s shift may get.
No matter what they’re doing in the hospital, team members are dressed in flame-resistant flight suits and are ready to run to the helicopter.
“We like to shoot for getting on the roof and being in the air within seven minutes,” Cline said.
In preparation, Cline said, the whole crew has a debriefing at the start of a shift. “We go over weather conditions in the region, moon phases in relation to our use of night vision goggles and even fuel levels in the helicopter,” she said.
“We discuss missions that took place the previous shift, and go over the equipment list to replace anything that might be missing.”
Once in the air, coordinates for a destination are put into a GPS. Cline said the crew can calculate an arrival time down to a few seconds, and checks its position every 15 minutes on longer flights.
On the way, the crew goes over the probable scenario at the scene and coordinates exactly what each member will be doing. Enloe has its own EMS dispatch system, run by former FlightCare crewman Bob Kiutuu, and dispatchers remain in constant contact during the flight. Cline said plain language is used in communications, not codes.
About five minutes from the landing zone, which might be a small clearing in a field or even a closed highway, the crew begins talking with the incident commander on the ground, gathering information about injuries and hazards on the ground.
Once FlightCare lands, the first person out goes to the back of the chopper to look for bystanders and possible hazards near the tail rotor, a blind spot for the pilot.
Another member grabs medical equipment and heads for the patient. Unless a doctor happens to be at the scene, the highest medical authority at most emergencies is the certified flight nurse. That position covers a wider scope of practice and allows such procedures as intubation and the administering of certain drugs and medications.
‘Try to do as much as we can on the ground’
Once a patient is treated and “packaged” for the flight back to Enloe, they are loaded into a confined space in the helicopter, which allows medical personnel very limited access to the patient. “We try and do as much as we can on the ground,” Cline said.
A five-point restraint system secures them to a gurney.
En route, the patient’s vital signs and other condition information is being sent to the hospital emergency room or a trauma team.
Cline said the crew doesn’t consider the mission over until the patient is off the helicopter and in the emergency room.
She said debriefings on the mission take place as soon as possible, and don’t uncommonly take place as the crew is flying to the next emergency.
“If anything went wrong, you want to get it out right there and then,” Cline said. “You don’t want to carry it around on the next mission.”
Robin Kiutuu said FlightCare crew members probably remember something about each mission, because no two are alike.
She especially recalls her first.
“I was flying with Jimmy Walker, a flight paramedic at the time, and we went to Gridley Hospital to pick up an elderly woman with a heart problem,” she said. “As we landed, I think everyone who worked in the hospital was outside to greet us. It was a real phenomenon then.”
A later mission also stands out, she said.
It involved FlightCare going to Colusa County to transport a young child whose leg had been mangled in a fall from a piece of farm equipment. “We couldn’t save his leg, but we saved his life,” she said. “That little boy is now a grown man. I like to think that we helped make that possible.”
During his recovery at Enloe, Kiutuu said the crew took the boy up to the roof to show him the helicopter. “The crew still talks about it.”
Copyright 2010 Oroville Mercury Register