Copter rushes burn victim

[Jon]

Copter rushes burn victim from factory run by opponent of medevac relocation

Employee listed in critical condition.


By STEFANIE MATTESON
Staff Writer
BRANCHBURG -- The employee of a Bedminster official opposed to a state police medevac unit in the township was airlifted by the helicopter Friday after an industrial accident.

Thomas E. Mulrooney, 41, of Phillipsburg was taken to the burn center at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston following an accident at Polycel Structural Foam in which he was critically burned on the face and upper body with molten plastic, police said.

The president and chief executive officer of Polycel is Bedminster township Committeeman Kurt Joerger, who has held the positions at the company since 2001, according to his resume. Joerger's opposition to the relocation of the NorthSTAR helicopter from the roof of Newark's University Hospital to Bedminster's Somerset Airport was a bitter and divisive issue in November's general election, which he ultimately won after a protracted legal challenge.

...

Joerger, who owns a 175-acre horse farm near the airport, was a founder of the grass-roots organization Bedminster Branchburg Bridgewater Readington Reserves, which opposed the medevac's relocation to Bedminster. The medevac, which moved Feb. 4, maintained that the Somerset location allowed the unit to cut response times in the central and western portions of the state, thus potentially saving lives.

Though the original organization has been succeeded by another organization with which Joerger disavows any ties, Joerger wrote a letter Feb. 4 to Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey asking him to terminate the medevac's operation at Somerset. In the letter, he called the helicopter an "unlawful, unwarranted and unnecessary intrusion into the rural region that surrounds the airport."

However, medevac's air medical coordinator, Terry Hoben, said Friday's accident demonstrated the need for the medevac. The flight from Somerset took one minute, while the trip from Newark would have taken close to 20 minutes, he said. In cases where there are burns to the face, minutes can make the crucial difference in keeping the patient's airways open, he said.


More HERE: http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A.../NEWS/504090346

 

[MMiz]

I'll never have the opportunity to work with medevacs in my suburban setting, but it's always so amazing to me to see the level of care that can be provided in a helicopter, and how much it can cut down on transport times.

The first line of the article was great:

BRANCHBURG -- The employee of a Bedminster official opposed to a state police medevac unit in the township was airlifted by the helicopter Friday after an industrial accident.

 

[Wingnut]

I just love irony

 

[rescuecpt]

Yes, quite ironical.


Matt - that stinks - we use medevac in my suburbia all the time.

 

[SafetyPro2]

Its relatively rare here. LAFD and LACoFD both run medevac with their helo fleet and do use it occasionally. The smaller cities can call on them as well or a few private services, but doesn't seem to happen too often except with TCs. The further you get out from the city though, the more common it is.

We usually only get involved with it in the mountains above town. The Sheriff's Department has a big SAR helo and will airlift patients out...these calls are generally multi-jurisdictional, involving us, the SAR team, LASD and maybe LACoFD.

In general, we can't call for a chopper because as BLS, we're not supposed to "wait" for an ALS unit if the PT is critical (theory being its faster for us to transport, and we can't adequately stabilize a critical PT without ALS procedures). About the only time we'd possibly do it was if we had an extended extrication (we'd also call for an ALS ambulance in that case).

Also, since we can't be diverted, we can always transport to the nearest hospital, which is only a 3-4 minute trip Code 3.

 

[rescuecpt]

Basics are allowed to call in NY if they meet certain criteria and it would be faster to airlift than to drive to a TC.

 

[MedicPrincess]

We use LifeFlight here...and anybody on scene can call for it...FF, cops, EMT's....anybody responding....there are also the times when dispatch automatically launches the helio...like in a Caridac Arrest.

Long transport times here.

 

[Jon]

Originally posted by EMTPrincess@Apr 12 2005, 06:07 PM
We use LifeFlight here...and anybody on scene can call for it...FF, cops, EMT's....anybody responding....there are also the times when dispatch automatically launches the helio...like in a Caridac Arrest.

Long transport times here.

I don't know your system, but around here trauma Codes are usually considered a contra-indication for medevac.

Many reasons:
1 - can't easily do CPR in a helo
2 - VERY poor survival ratio and outcomes
3 - Trauma codes are supposed to go to closest ED, 10-15 minute ride at max.



Only time I know of a helo going on a code was a pediatric arrest in the west end of nowhere - 20 minute response time by the closest medic, 15+ for BLS rig, and 10+ for FD. The Hospital is base for the medivac and the medics, and the Helo dispatcher sent the crew out on it. Crew was either first unit or first EMS onscene (beaten in by a chief?) I think it was a save, and made everyone feel real good.

Jon

 

[TTLWHKR]

:blink:

 

[SafetyPro2]

Just wanted to clarify my last post. We COULD call for a medevac. What we can't do, however, is wait on-scene for the helicopter to arrive. BLS units here are required to transport critical patients if the time for an ALS unit to arrive is longer than the transport time. Given our proximity to the hospital, that means under normal circumstances, we always transport critical PTs rather than calling for an ALS unit. The closest ALS ambulance is right across the park from the hospital.

Now, if we have a delayed packaging period, such as an extended extrication from a vehicle or someone back in the mountains, then we could call for a helo because we can't get the PT to the hospital before they'd arrive.

 

[MedicPrincess]

In the area I live in the closest facility is at a minimum 12 minutes away by ground, a lot further from most areas. And this facility is not set up to handle a whole lot. As far as surgeries go, they only perform scheduled procedures. More of a band-aid station than a hospital. The helo can get on scene in about 6-10, depending on what part of the county they are headed to. Generally, in the case of a cardiac arrest the helo is dispatched at the same time as fire and ems.

The dispatch goes something like

"Sta XX, MedXXX, Cardiac Arrest, Echo Respone 123 Main street. Sta XX, MedXXX, Cardiac Arrest, Echo Respone 123 Main street. Life Fight will be responding."

Then as part of our further info they give an ETA for life flight.

Now if the patient has to go to the Trauma Centers, they are a minimun of 23 minutes by ground (at 1 A.M. with no traffic to contend with).

I have seen Life Flight get on scene and refuse to transport because the person was a trauma code.

The 911 center automatically contacts Life Flight in the cases of Cardiac Arrest, MVA's with a high probability of serious injury (rollovers, ejections, entrapments, motorcycles), Long Falls.

AS far as waiting on scene, our units do it, depending on the time of day and the patient. If they are going to have to fight 5 pm rush hour traffic to get to a trauma center, they usually wait the 8 minutes for the helo. At 2 am, they often just load and go.

 

[rescuecpt]

The fastest my FD has ever gotten a patient to the hospital was 17 minutes. Full lights and sirens. We can see the state hospital from where we are (across the water) but that's about a 1hr drive. Life flight won't take cardiac arrests. Not only would they laugh at us, we would probably get "reprogrammed" by County EMS.