![]() The lack of local resources or lack of specialty care is another important reason to fly for needed care. “My family is in western Kansas and my Dad has been flown three times in recent years due to heart issues and injury,” Morin explains. The distance of transport, from say a rural or remote area, justifies a medical professional’s dispatch of an air ambulance. There are several reasons why an air ambulance is dispatched beyond the need for speed. We do a lot of inter-facility transfers where we take patients from a smaller hospital to a larger hospital with specialty services.” Registered Nurses have that in-hospital experience. “Paramedics tend to have more experience with ‘scene’ flights like car or motorcycle wrecks where we may land directly at the scene. Morin explains the system works very well because the medical specialists provide backup for each other while bringing experience to each mission. Each mission is crewed by three: a pilot, paramedic and registered nurse. The staff of 13, four pilots, four registered nurses and four paramedics plus Morin, have a secure, comfortable place to complete the 24 hours on/24 hours off shifts. Ponca City’s Air Evac Lifeteam’s fixed base of operation is located just west of the hospital in the former housing for the order of nuns providing support to then St. Not because the OCC stepped in and said ‘nope.’” And we have what’s called ‘the 51 percent rule.’ Any one person of our three-person crew can overrule the other two and say, ‘I’m not comfortable with this.’ So, when a flight is turned down, it’s usually at the base level. He continues, “Our pilots are going to err on the side of caution. It’s rare the OCC declines permission for a mission. They look at several factors: Is the weather good? Is everybody rested and ready to go? Is this a known location? Is weather predicted? Is it daytime or nighttime? All those things go into the calculation of a risk score and our pilots then send it to our Operational Control Center, or OCC, and the OCC gives the final go-ahead.” “The pilot completes a risk assessment form based upon the mission. For the pilot, assessing the risk to crew and craft is first order of business. Adrenaline starts as soon as you hear it.”īolting into action, each crew member knows exactly what to do. He explains, “When we get information from dispatch, it comes across the radio as a tone. Travis Morin is Air Evac Lifeteam’s Program Director. Help is on the way for someone who is likely having a very bad day. The sound and concussive air waves are, at once, thrilling and concerning. Chopper blades slice the air, gaining speed. Nearby drivers crane necks to track the action. After evaluating every aspect of safety and risk, seen and unseen, the three-person flight crew nods in agreement: This mission is a go and will be completed.Īir Evac Lifeteam, Ponca City’s air ambulance service, is preparing to lift away from the helipad at AllianceHealth Ponca City. ![]() In those short minutes, the medical crew has completed a final inspection of medical equipment and supplies while the pilot inspects the aircraft and completes the mission risk assessment. That is the average length of time between the call from dispatch to the moment the helicopter lifts away.
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