Baptist LifeFlight

History of Aeromedicine Began With Korean War Evolution Continued Into Vietnam War Vietnam Became Origin of Modern Day Paramedics With the Huey, there was a larger aircraft used with medically trained personnel on board providing care en route to field hospitals. This data was evaluated and the concept was adopted for civilian use.

Civilian Use Begins Flight For Life Began Operations In 1972 Baptist LifeFlight Began Operations In 1977 3rd Oldest Flight Program In U.S. Remind audience that we’re the 3rd oldest hospital based air medical service in the U.S. and the first in Florida

Baptist LifeFlight Serving Community For 31 Years Oldest Flight Program In Florida #1 In Nation In Customer Satisfaction Baptist Hospital In Top 100 Places To Work In U.S. By Fortune Magazine For Past 7 Years

Baptist LifeFlight Now With Four Locations To Better Serve The Community All Helicopters Dispatched From One Local Communications Center One Call Will Access The Closest Aircraft Call us and we’ll send you however many helis you need.

Why Use A Helicopter? Rapid Transport The Golden Hour Definitive Care Is In the O.R. The Nearest Hospital May Not Be Prepared For This Level Of Treatment Specialty Care May Be Needed Discuss how the golden hour originated with trauma but has been adopted by other branches of medicine (cardiology, neurology, etc.)The benefit of LifeFlight is that we get the patient to the closest doctor that can fix their problem faster, not just the closest doctor.

Indications - Trauma State Trauma Alert Criteria ACS Guidelines GCS Less Than 10 OR A Falling Score Penetrating Injuries Depressed Skull Fractures Suspected Cardiac Or Intrathoracic Injuries Patients At Extremes Of Age Accident Mechanism

Indications - Trauma Prolonged Extrication Traffic Congestion Overwhelmed Local Resources Environmental Roadblocks No ALS Care Available

Indications - Medical Chest Pain/ AMI Breathing Difficulty Suspected CVA Poisonings/ Overdoses Remind them that it’s a good idea to call us for medical patients. Many times we don’t get a call because people think that patients “aren’t sick enough”.

Crew Configuration Medical Crew Consists of Paramedic and Registered Nurse Paramedics Come From High Volume EMS Systems and Fire Departments Nurses Have Background in Both ICU and Emergency Department Both Crewmembers Undergo Further Training With Medical Control MDs Nurses and paramedics need 3 years minimum. Nurses have to have one year each of ER and ICU experience, and must also be an EMT at minimum.

Specialized Training ACLS, PALS, BTLS Crew Resource Management HUET training Advanced Procedures Central Line Placement Rapid Sequence Induction Needle Thoracostomy Pericardiocentesis Stress that our advanced skills aren’t used on every patient, and that our main asset to the caller is the speed with which we transport the patient.

LifeFlight 1 Based at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, FL

LifeFlight 2 Based at EMS 20 Station in Semmes, AL

LifeFlight 3 -Based at Evergreen Medical Center in Evergreen, AL

LifeFlight 4 Based at Bobby Chain Airport in Hattiesburg, MS

Latest Aviation Technology

Experience Counts! Pilots Have An Average Of 3000 Flight Hours Before Being Hired Pilots Receive Specialized Training Certified In Aircraft Type Specially Trained For Non-Certified Landing Zones NVG Certified We don’t often land at airports. We land in yards, roads, etc, and our pilots get training in landing in those areas.

Night Vision Goggles

Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) Recommended By AAMS, NTSB, And The FAA To Prevent Incidents/accidents Dramatically Improves Ability To See In No Or Low Light Conditions LifeFlight Is The Only Program On The Gulf Coast Using NVGs

Night Vision Goggles Amplify Available Light Up To 40,000 Times Exterior Lights (Night Sun, Exterior Lights, etc) can enhance NVG effectiveness NVGs Allow Brighter Cockpit Lighting $100,000 Investment Per Ship

Celestial Light

Cigarette Lighter

Cigarette Lighter 1000ft AGL

Cell Phone Light 2km

Cloud Formations

Commitment To Safety All LifeFlight Aircraft Have Excellent Safety Record NVGs Add To Safety For Night Ops Satellite Tracking Systems On All Aircraft Expanded Operational Control

1-800-874-1555 One Call Does It All! Auto-Launch Vs Standby Location With Crossroad Landing Zone Contact Hazards in Landing Zone Area We’ll stand by, but we’d rather be launched. We’d rather be cancelled over a scene and not needed than have a requestor hold off on calling us because they didn’t want to “bother the crew” and then need us when they arrive on scene.

Special Considerations Haz-Mat Multiple Patients Scene Security Patient Size Family Members

OK, We Called But You Didn’t Come!

Reasons We Can’t Be There When You Call Weather Here, There, In Between Maintenance Scheduled Unscheduled On Another Flight We ask the pilot if we can go, and he makes a determination based on weather at requestor, weather at heli base, and the weather in between. Pilot isn’t told what type of mission until we say yes or no. We’ll have a backup in place for maintenance before we take an aircraft out of service for scheduled maintenance. If something breaks, we fix it as soon as possible. If we can’t fix it in a day, we get a backup aircraft.

Landing Zone Preparation (S) Size of Landing Zone: 100 X 100 (L) Landing Area: Mark With Cones During Day And Lights At Night (O) Obstacles: Poles, Wires, Trees, Etc. (W) Winds: Current Wind Direction Landing area- We can always see a fire apparatus. If they use that to mark the LZ, that’s fine. Obstacles- stress the unlit cell towers and high tension lines. Tell them we’re looking for them to warn us of obstacle within a half mile radius of where we’re landing

Landings Helicopter Landings Generate High Winds Have All LZ Crew Face Away From LZ or Have Eye Protection Close All Doors And Windows Secure All Loose Objects Encourage crews to wear safety glasses. The lowered shield on a fire helmet still allows for dirt to blow into the responders’ eyes.

Landings (Cont.) Stop All Radio Traffic Including Emergency Vehicles All White Lights Off Wet Down Dirty or Sandy Areas No Radio Traffic Other Than LZ Officer To Aircraft If Unsafe, Call “Abort” And Wave Off White lights- hand lights, headlights, floodlights on fire apparatus. Don’t aim these at aircraft, and don’t use flash photography at night.

Roadway Landings If Using Roadway For LZ, Be Sure Traffic Flow Is Blocked In All Directions Use Apparatus To Block Roads Constantly Monitor Motorists For Unexpected Actions Watch For Bystanders

Staging Apparatus LifeFlight Recommends Positioning Fire Apparatus Near LZ And Keeping Firefighters On The Protected Side Of The Apparatus While Aircraft Is Landing This Practice Provides Greater Margin Of Safety Than Having Unprotected Personnel At The End Of Charged Line During Landings

Ground Operations LZ Officer To Remain In LZ For Security Tail Rotor Guard For Hot Loads Only Emergency Personnel Allowed Inside LZ Scene Control Is Critical!!! If they can spare the manpower, leave the LZ officer to watch for people walking toward the aircraft.

Security and Crowd Control Keep Bystanders Over 200’ From LZ And Helicopter Keep Non-Essential Personnel Out Of Approach And Departure Paths Ensure No Smoking Or Hazardous Activity Within 200’

Protect Your Patient Remain In Safe Area Report And Assessment In Ambulance If Possible Protect Patient From Flying Debris If Outside

Crew Assistance Protective Clothing And Eye Protection Flight Crew Will Request Specific Responders For Assistance Do Not Approach Aircraft Unless Directed By Flight Crew Because of our stretcher system, we shouldn’t need assistance unless we’re doing a double carry. We’ll point out the people that we need clearly if we need help. Stress that we need to keep the number of people at the aircraft to a minimum.

Always Avoid the Tail Rotor!!

Hot & Cold Loads Hot Engines Running Hearing And Eye Protection Necessary Preferred When Patient Is Readily Accessible Cold Aircraft Shut Down Used When Access To Patient Is Delayed DON’T APPROACH AIRCRAFT UNTIL CREW SIGNALS!! Many times the LZ officer wants to walk over to the aircraft after we’ve touched down. PLEASE DON’T APPROACH UNLESS WE SIGNAL FOR YOU TO DO SO!! This is safer for everyone involved.

When We’re Gone Please Maintain Integrity Of The LZ For Several Minutes After Departure In An Unforeseen Emergency, We Will Return To The LZ Keep LZ open until you can’t see the aircraft anymore. Once we’re that far away it won’t make sense for us to come back to our departure point. Hold LZ open for a couple of minutes max.

Summary Turn On Vehicle Lights No Flares Turn Off White Lights For Landings And Takeoffs No Spotlights Aimed At Aircraft No Hand Signals Necessary LZ Officer Has Overall Authority For LZ

Questions? Questions?

Thanks For All You Do! Thanks For All You Do!