Air ambulances provided critical rural services

For people who live in rural areas like Central Oregon, the availability of an emergency air ambulance service can make the difference between complete recovery or living with permanent disabilities, sometimes between life or death.

In Sisters Country, we are fortunate to have two excellent services based here. AirLink Critical Care Transport offers the services of both a twin-engine Eurocopter EC-135 helicopter, based at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend; and a fixed-wing, single-engine turbo-prop Pilatus-12 based at the Bend Municipal airport, with an ambulance for transport to St. Charles.

Life Flight Network, which is based at Roberts Field in Redmond, flies a Koala A-119 Agusta helicopter. Their fixed-wing, also a Pilatus-12, is based in Aurora, Oregon where their headquarters are located.

Life Flight offers air transport across the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain West, and services are also available from their reciprocal partners located in those areas.

AirLink provides service to central, eastern and southern Oregon and also transports patients to Portland and other hospitals in the United States. As a member of the AirMed Care Network, an AirLink membership provides reciprocity among more than 200 helicopter and airplane base locations across 28 states.

Both organizations offer reasonably priced memberships that protect a member and their family from having to pay anywhere from $15,000-$40,000 for a medically necessary emergency flight. At this time, for Sisters residents, it is necessary to have memberships in both programs to ensure coverage throughout the area. Because of current strict Medicare rules, the two services cannot offer reciprocity to each other.

Kristin Lingman, manager of business development for AirLink, said they would like to be able to have a reciprocal arrangement with Life Flight.

"We are working toward reciprocity because it's in the best interest of the community."

They are trying to reach consensus on the issue.

As it is now, if you require air transport, you can specify one service or the other, but if that service has their equipment out on another call, whoever is available first will be the one to respond. Therefore, to avoid a very costly transport if your service is unable to respond, having two memberships is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

To confuse things further, AirLink and Life Flight each offer FireMed ground memberships and FireMed ground/air combination memberships in certain communities. Currently Life Flight is partnered with the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District as well as Black Butte Ranch, La Pine, and Sunriver. AirLink partners with Bend, Redmond and Crook County fire departments.

As a Sisters Country resident, if a person purchases the combined package, ground transport will be provided by the local fire department medics, and air transport is covered for Life Flight. If they are unavailable, and AirLink does the transport, the member will have to pay out-of-pocket for the air transport, unless they also have an AirLink membership.

Another reason for two air memberships, if the combination package is with Life Flight, is because AirLink's fixed-wing aircraft, which can travel as high as 30,000 feet, night and day, in all kinds of weather, is located in Bend and works closely with St. Charles to provide interfacility transfers to Portland and other locations. They are also able to provide neonatal (mother and baby) care with a highly trained neonatal nurse for infant flights, along with specialty equipment.

Some insurance, including Medicare, will cover all or part of the cost. Be sure to check the terms of your coverage. A majority of flights provide service to people who are not members. With the greater distances here in Central Oregon, membership in an air ambulance service makes good sense. They provide interfacility transfers as well as responding to the scene of an accident, and assisting search and

rescue.

Each AirLink flight is staffed with a pilot, a flight nurse, and either a flight respiratory therapist or a flight paramedic. Life Flight has pilots, flight nurses, and flight paramedics.

Josh Phillips, a flight paramedic FPC with AirLink, explained the value of air ambulance service.

"In more remote or difficult-to-reach areas, ground transportation may not be an option due to time and distance to reach and then transport a patient. The area may also lack paramedics, limiting the level of emergency care initially available.

"With an air ambulance, you have the ability to get a patient definitive care quickly. If you have a traumatic injury or serious illness that requires tertiary care, you can be to Portland in 40 minutes on our fixed-wing aircraft regardless of the weather or time of day or night.

"We are able to begin immediate care or continue the care started at the scene or in the hospital until the patient gets where they need to be."

There is no Level I trauma center in Central Oregon, the closest being in Portland. Level I facilities provide 24-hour coverage for all specialties, such as trauma surgeons, cardiac surgeons, and neurosurgeons. A Level II facility like St. Charles in Bend does not have all the services available all the time, thus necessitating transfer. Outlying community hospitals may not even have certain specialists, therefore requiring transfer if a patient is going to receive the necessary care.

Always call 911 when emergency medical assistance is needed. A physician, emergency medical provider or other authorized personnel will determine if an air ambulance is needed.

For more information, contact AirLink at 800-353-0497 or 541-706-6305 or Life Flight at 800-982-9299.