Trauma centers

[bigbaldguy]

I work in LA County and we fly most of our trauma patients to UCLA cuz our transport times to the closest trauma centers are >25 min. Unless its a traumatic full arrest or the patient is combative, they're going on a helicopter.

25 mins? Seems like it would take that long to get a helicopter off the ground and to the patient, then when you add in time on scene and flight time to hospital you'd be well over.

 

[abckidsmom]

25 mins? Seems like it would take that long to get a helicopter off the ground and to the patient, then when you add in time on scene and flight time to hospital you'd be well over.

Amen! I so wish people would all understand this concept. At the minimum, it takes 5-7 minutes to get off the ground, typically 7-8 minute flight each way to cover that ground, and I rarely see a flight crew spend under 10-15 minutes on the scene, frequently >30 if airway management is needed.

THIS IS NOT FASTER! If you have an airway, DRIVE TO THE HOSPITAL!

 

[iPhonemedic]

I live and work in Central Florida and just about every hospital from the community hospitals all the way up to LVL 1's have a helipad. ORMC is the LVL1 in Orlando and they have their own flight service. Tampa General, LVL 1 on the West Coast, has a five bird fleet that covers 23 counties. I don't about anywhere else but I think here in FL LVL 1's need a dedicated fleet.

 

[Aidey]

The info on the FL DOH website says absolutely nothing about hospitals having a dedicated fleet. The official regulations are posted several posts up.

 

[usalsfyre]

I live and work in Central Florida and just about every hospital from the community hospitals all the way up to LVL 1's have a helipad. ORMC is the LVL1 in Orlando and they have their own flight service. Tampa General, LVL 1 on the West Coast, has a five bird fleet that covers 23 counties. I don't about anywhere else but I think here in FL LVL 1's need a dedicated fleet.

A VERY superficial Google search turned up that neither Broward or Jackson have HEMS programs.

Being a trauma center does not mean you have to be in the transport business anywhere I know of.

If anything FL seemingly needs fewer aircraft.

 

[Handsome Robb]

I live and work in Central Florida and just about every hospital from the community hospitals all the way up to LVL 1's have a helipad. ORMC is the LVL1 in Orlando and they have their own flight service. Tampa General, LVL 1 on the West Coast, has a five bird fleet that covers 23 counties. I don't about anywhere else but I think here in FL LVL 1's need a dedicated fleet.

Just because they have them doesn't mean they are required to...

Like Aidey has said more than once as well as provided a link to the FL guidelines, TCs are not required to have a HEMS service.

Considering many but not all hospitals are profitable I would think it's easier for them to start up and maintain a service than a private HEMS company. Just a thought though, I don't have any evidence.

Considering the downturn in the economy I would think the profitability of hospitals would decline so the above may not be true but again just a thought.

 

[Akulahawk]

25 mins? Seems like it would take that long to get a helicopter off the ground and to the patient, then when you add in time on scene and flight time to hospital you'd be well over.

Amen! I so wish people would all understand this concept. At the minimum, it takes 5-7 minutes to get off the ground, typically 7-8 minute flight each way to cover that ground, and I rarely see a flight crew spend under 10-15 minutes on the scene, frequently >30 if airway management is needed.

THIS IS NOT FASTER! If you have an airway, DRIVE TO THE HOSPITAL!

Can I say "Double Amen!" to that?? In any event, I've seen some times very similar to what you see. One HEMS base, at a hospital in the South SF Bay area, routinely had a launch time of about 7 minutes, about a 3 min flight time to their most frequent LZ, they be on the ground about 8-10 minutes, and would have a 12-15 min flight to the closest trauma center. They'd time it so the helo would arrive about the time the patient would be extricated from the wreck. It would take a ground ambulance another 20-30 min past that to arrive at the same hospital. I've seen the difference first-hand...

People really do forget about the amount of time it takes to launch the helo and fly to the scene, in those instances where a helo must be specifically requested.

 

[docmoods]

Pretty sad theres more trauma centers in most of your areas then my entire state combined... Guess that proves yet again why New Jersey's EMS system is pretty broke...

 

[NomadicMedic]

No they don't. if aeromedical transport is needed a private company would do the transport. All they have to have is a landing pad...

Look at it this way, do hospitals have to have an ambulance service to receive EMS patients? No, private companies, FDs and third services provide that service just like private HEMS companies provide aeromedical transport.

Just because a flight program is hospital based doesn't mean they only transport to their hospital. That would be a JCAHO violation if they bypassed a closer capable trauma facility to transport to their home hospital.

A perfect example of this is Air Methods.

Air Methods has several different service models to suit the needs of their customers. The “Hospital Based Program” is run fully by a hospital, with AM supplying only the aircraft and pilot and maintenance.

The “Community Based Program” may be fully staffed by AM employees, both flight and medical, or a hybrid system with a sponsor hospital supplying the medical personnel and AM providing the rest.

A good example of Hospital Based HEMS is PennStar (http://www.pennmedicine.org/pennstar/) which slingshots patients to the University of Pennsylvania . Of course, they may transport to other facilities as needed, but the majority of the flights are for UPenn.

Community Based HEMS are systems like Airlift Northwest (http://uwmedicine.washington.edu/Patient-Care/Locations/Airlift-Northwest/Pages/default.aspx) and Christian Care Life Net (http://www.christianacare.org/lifenet) While both services are affiliated with hospitals, they are “community resources” that transport to appropriate facilities. Of course they will have IFT facilities that they contract with, but they are available for transport as needed.