By Ann Wlazelek
Morning Call (Pennsylvania)
Copyright 2006 The Morning Call, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
When MedEvac flew its first accident victim from Palmerton to Lehigh Valley Hospital’s new trauma center in 1981, the late night trip marked the start of emergency helicopter transportation in Pennsylvania.
The patient survived and the program, now in its 25th year, is thriving, said Harold Spatz, MedEvac director since its inception.
At a news conference marking the anniversary Tuesday, Spatz and others spoke of the program’s ups and downs over a quarter century of service.
It began with one helicopter and about two dozen nurses and paramedics, who flew 77 times the first year. Now, officials noted, the program boasts eight choppers; 100 crew members, including pilots; and nearly 4,000 flights a year.
“That’s a lot of transportation,” Spatz said. And the program — officially University MedEvac since joining forces with Hahnemann University Hospital in 1987 — is one of the busiest in Pennsylvania, he said, transporting more than 500 patients per aircraft when the state average is less than 300. The combined program costs about $14 million to run, but its costs are covered by insurance.
LVH doctors could not estimate the number of lives saved by the speedy delivery of patients to a center trained to respond to life-threatening injuries and illnesses. But early studies showed the combination of a medical helicopter and trauma center could reduce death rates by 25 percent.
“The ability to mobilize patients to a trauma center quicker has impact,” said Michael Pasquale, LVH’s chief trauma surgeon. “It’s hard to say” how many survived, he added, “thousands.”
However, on April 27, 1982, the program lost two crew members, a pilot and a patient when the first helicopter crash-landed in a field near New Ringgold shortly after takeoff. Although rain and equipment failure were initially suspected, Spatz said officials now believe the cause was the “combative” patient.
“It was a devastating, humbling experience,” Gina Natale, one of LVH’s original flight nurses, said of the loss.
Natale, now a patient care coordinator in LVH’s emergency room, choked back tears when describing the passion she and other flight crew members shared for MedEvac.
“It was the best and the worst,” she said. “You trusted the pilot to get you there safe and you trusted your partner to watch your back. It was the ultimate in teamwork.” She thanked Michael Rhodes, LVH’s first trauma center chief, for having the dream.
LVH’s four helicopters serve a 60-mile radius from stations in Kutztown, Stroudsburg and the Lehigh Valley International and Pottsville airports. The region is also served by a medical helicopter from St. Luke’s Hospital-Fountain Hill which has operated for about seven years.
At the news conference, MedEvac paramedic Tim Blackston landed on the Cedar Crest campus with his 4-year-old bulldog, Buster.
Buster, a mascot of sorts for crew members talking about MedEvac to children on the pediatrics floor or in schools, wore a pet-sized navy paramedic jacket and badge.
“He did better than most patients do,” Blackston noted of the dog’s maiden voyage. Buster didn’t need sedation, he said, but also “didn’t like the hearing protection.”
MEDEVAC HISTORY
An emergency helicopter transport program that began at LVH-Cedar Crest in May 1981.
Operated jointly with Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia as University MedEvac in April 1987.
More than 40,000 flights made.
Helicopters fly at speeds of 140 mph to 180 mph and heights of 2,000-3,000 feet.
75 percent of transports are from trauma sites; 25 percent from hospital to hospital.
Flight teams consist of pilot, nurse and paramedic.
Helicopters flew the equivalent of 107 times around the world.