Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Journal
By ROSALIE RAYBURN
Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico)
Whether it’s a catastrophic car wreck outside Santa Fe, a semi-truck rollover near Grants or a heart attack in Moriarty, the rhythmic thump-thump-thumping of an approaching helicopter is the sound of life-saving help arriving.
For nearly 25 years, residents of New Mexico have been familiar with the red and white helicopters of the Lifeguard air medical transport service that operated from University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.
But now those colors are slowly changing to match the new chopper company that has flown into town.
Lafayette, La.-based PHI Air Medical took over all aspects of the service last summer and moved its operations base to Seven Bar Aviation, on the south side of the Albuquerque International Sunport.
PHI was founded in 1949 to transport crews to oil and gas platforms in and around the Gulf of Mexico. It now provides those services in 43 countries. A separate division provides air medical transportation in 12 U.S. states.
PHI initially landed a contract to provide air medical services to UNM Hospital in 2003. It used its own pilots and helicopters, painted in the Lifeguard colors, but continued to use UNM hospital nurses, paramedics and dispatchers.
Last summer, PHI offered to take over the whole operation.
“It became a package deal and it made sense,” Sam Giammo, director of public affairs for the UNM Health Sciences Center.
The company has three helicopters in New Mexico, one each in Albuquerque, Grants and Santa Fe. Each helicopter can respond to emergencies within 150 miles of its base.
The Albuquerque-based chopper now wears the new black-and-yellow colors. The helicopters based in Grants and Santa Fe still sport the Lifeguard paint job, but that will change in coming months. PHI plans to add a fourth chopper and base location by the end of this year.
The three AStar helicopters, which cost about $3 million each, responded to more than 1,500 emergency calls last year alone. Vehicle accidents, rollovers, shootings and heart attacks were the most common emergencies, said Joaquin Gonzales, a PHI flight paramedic based in Albuquerque.
Gonzales is one of about 50 PHI employees in New Mexico, including mechanics and administrative staff. Each helicopter base has a crew of four pilots, five nurses and five paramedics, who work rotating shifts. “I find it a very challenging career,” Gonzales said.
PHI helicopter teams are called to the most serious emergencies, which gives the paramedics, nurses and pilots on board ample opportunity to use and hone their professional skills.
“We have the best job in the world,” said PHI’s program director, Monty Gallegos, commenting on the challenges crews face every time a helicopter takes off.
First responders at an emergency can summon PHI via a toll-free number. Calls go to a control center in Phoenix, which handles emergency calls from New Mexico, Arizona and California.
Dispatchers then contact the chopper base nearest the emergency. Crews can scramble and be airborne within seven minutes.
Space inside the aircraft is tight. Crammed into the roughly 8-by-6-foot area of the helicopter are the pilot’s seat and controls, seats for a paramedic and nurse, and a stretcher for the patient.
A bag packed with medical gear is always on the craft. Helicopters even carry a portable ventilator to assist breathing and supplies of universally compatible Onegative blood.
Once aloft, the helicopters cruise at about 125 miles per hour at altitudes ranging from 1,000 feet to 1,500 feet above the terrain.
Each craft’s operating radius is affected by weight and wind. Crew members must hold their body weight below 215 pounds. If a patient weighs more than 300 pounds, a crew member may have to stay behind.
Although PHI will transport patients to any hospital they request within flying distance, UNMH hospital is the most frequent destination. UNM is the only hospital in the state fully equipped to handle serious trauma injuries, Gonzales said.
PHI derives its revenues from patient transfer fees. State Medicaid rates are $844.04 per trip plus $4.43 per mile once the patient is on board. Individual insurance company rates are similar, Gallegos said.
In cases where patients have to be taken out of state for treatment that can’t be found in New Mexico, PHI has fixedwing aircraft in Phoenix that can fly longer distances.
The total cost of operating the three choppers is about $150,000 per month, Gallegos said.