For 30 years, people throughout New England
Transcription
For 30 years, people throughout New England
RxTra A publication for the staff of Hartford Hospital June 15, 2015 Vol. 71 No. 17 For 30 years, people throughout New England have relied on LIFE STAR and its stellar flight crew to swiftly and safely connect them with critical care. Since its launch in 1985, LIFE STAR has transported more than 30,000 people and saved thousands of lives. Please join us as we salute LIFE STAR on its 30th anniversary. We look forward, and skyward, to many more years of serving those who need us most. Dr. Len Jacobs: Remembering LIFE STAR’s First Flight Dr. Lenworth Jacobs, Hartford Hospital’s chief academic officer and vice president of Academic Affairs, was Hartford Hospital’s director of Trauma and Emergency Medicine starting in 1983. He came from the Boston City Hospital Trauma Center to design and implement HH’s own trauma center and the LIFE STAR air ambulance program. Thirty years ago, he was on its first flight. Anatomy of a helicopter EC145 Flight ceiling: 9,600 ft Standard fuel capacity: 229 gal Two Turbomeca Arriel 1E2 engines: 894 shp (shaft horsepower) per engine Maximum range: 425.7 miles / 370 nm He remembers that he and three other crew members were suited up and ready to go at 7 a.m. that day. They anxiously waited for a call … and waited. Around 11 p.m., the call came in. “I remember going over Avon Mountain and it was misty. We were heading into a very tight landing zone and it was a little intimidating,” he recalled. “But once you’re down, you transition very quickly from an aviation environment to a medical environment and begin to put the full resources of a trauma center into play for the patient. It was just as I expected: very intense and very gratifying.” The first patient recovered fully. LIFE STAR, which takes advanced trauma treatment right to the patient, is a critical component of HH’s Trauma Program, which includes the only Level One Trauma Center in the region, a designation awarded only after meeting very strict criteria of the American College of Surgeons. “When LIFE STAR began, we visited almost every single town to explain how an air medical program would function,” Jacobs said. “It was challenging. We had to work with police and fire departments to secure safe landing zones. When you land, the personnel assisting you are emergency responders. There are no aviation personnel in the middle of Interstate 84.” “Today, almost every hospital in the region has a heliport, which wasn’t the case when we started. The program has strengthened the bonds among law enforcement, fire services, and emergency medical services and raised the importance of a 2 - LIFE STAR 30th Anniversary Special rapid response to an advanced level to get the patient to the appropriate hospital,” Jacobs said. LIFE STAR’s mission truly is a matter of life or death. “Time is essential and often makes all the difference in a trauma situation,” Jacobs said. When LIFE STAR is flying, it has priority over every other aircraft, except that of the U.S. president. “Every time LIFE STAR flies, about 60 people spring into action – nurses, therapists, emergency physicians, surgeons, radiologists, anesthesiologists, and ICU specialists,” Jacobs said. “They have to be ready to respond at a moment’s notice, and they are a well-oiled machine,” he said. According to Jacobs, that culture of clinical excellence and altruism is deeply ingrained in the whole trauma system – the clinicians, law enforcement, the fire departments, and emergency medical services. LIFE STAR has made a major impact on Connecticut and beyond, Jacobs said. “LIFE STAR crews have rescued more than 32,000 patients in 11 states since 1985,” he said. “I am immensely proud of what’s been accomplished here by an amazing team of people.” Maximum take-off weight: 7,903 pounds Height: 12 feet Length: 42.65 feet Weight: 3,951 lbs Fast cruise speed: 153 mph / 133 kts Maximum speed: 167 mph / 145 kts Rate of climb: 1,600 feet per minute Area covered 30-mile radius = 15-minute flight time Travel times: 28 minutes to Stamford Windham County 22 minutes to Danbury Hartford County 14 minutes to New Haven 10 minutes to Waterbury Tolland County Litchfield County 6 minutes to Enfield or Middletown Middlesex County New Haven County New London County Fairfield County scale 20 miles LIFE STAR 30th Anniversary Special - 3 LIFE STAR Over Hartford 4 - LIFE STAR 30th Anniversary Special LIFE STAR 30th Anniversary Special - 5 The Early Years: 1985-1989 LIFE STAR Chief Pilot Richard Magner Richard Magner, chief pilot for the Life Star program from its beginnings in 1985 until the late 1990s, started flying in 1967 with the U.S. Army in Vietnam. He returned with a Purple Heart and Air Medals with V devices. He then earned a degree in aviation management, and flew off-shore to oil rigs before beginning his medical experience in 1979, flying for Baptist Hospital in Florida. Magner, who is still an active pilot with LIFE STAR, holds an airline transport rating and instrument rating in both fixed wing and helicopters, and currently has more than 8,500 total hours of flight time. In 1984, Magner received the prestigious Golden Hour award from Helicopter Association International, which goes to the one pilot in the nation who displays outstanding ability in medical evacuation situations. Saving Lives Since 1985 Saying Goodbye to An Angel in Blue June 20, 1992 was a dark day for Hartford Hospital. After seven years of accidentfree operation, a LIFE STAR helicopter crashed onto Route 91 after striking power lines near a Middletown rest area. Flight nurse Jennifer Hodges, 32, was killed in the crash. When LIFE STAR responded to its first call in 1985, there were four people aboard the helicopter: Dr. Lenworth Jacobs, director EMS/Trauma; chief pilot Richard Magner; and flight nurses Jennifer Hodges and Cindy Gemmell. Here is the roster of staff in 1985 - the people who started this critical service: Pilots: Richard Magner, Tom Flannagan and Tom Goff. Flight nurses: Gerry Ballard, Lynn Cowles, Sandra Diggert, Ellen Dunn, Jane Dziadus, Cindy Gemmell, Jennifer Hodges, Margaret Lee and Sherry Stohler. 6 - LIFE STAR 30th Anniversary Special Respiratory Therapists: Don Anderson, Carol Director, Annette Ervin, Glenn Flanagan, Carin Geithner, Julie Hopkins, Carol Jackson, Johanna Karbonic, Nancy LaRoche, Liz Locascio, Ellen MacNaughton, Sherry Mirtl, Daryl Rockwell, Ron Salonia and Ulla Tiik-Lasky. Dispatchers: Ronald Cox, Robert Cummiskey, Peter Forster, Sally Gionfriddo, Raymond Kelley, Gary Kirkpatrick, John Lowe, Beth Mitchell, Dennis O’Connell, Luz Plumey, Kevin Robinson, Stanley Rozynski, Michael Schiavone, Kenneth Schlegel, Leonard Simmons, John Tully and Len Walker. The other two members of the flight crew - respiratory therapist Joy Minichello and pilot Joseph Bremseth - were hospitalized after the crash, but survived. On the day of Jennifer’s funeral, a LIFE STAR helicopter hovered over the First Church of Christ Congregational in West Hartford while her ashes were buried in a memorial garden. LIFE STAR 30th Anniversary Special - 7 William O’Brien = Exhibit A: Living Proof of the Lifesaving Prowess of LIFE STAR At Hartford Hospital’s Black and Red Gala last winter, a handsome young man, his blonde hair parted just so, his tux crisper than James Bond’s, circulated among the cocktail-party crowd and paused for an interview with reporters broadcasting live from the event. He could have been an entertainer or a celebrity guest. But he wasn’t. William O’Brien Jr. was Exhibit A for the lifesaving prowess of LIFE STAR and the trauma team at Hartford Hospital. In May 2010, O’Brien became one of the 32,000 desperately injured or ill patients whoLIFE STAR has transported to Hartford Hospital in the 30 years since its first flight in 1985. Although not everybody survives, O’Brien became one of the many who has lived to say “thank you.” O’Brien was 19 and had just finished his freshman year at UConn. He was driving home from his summer job when he crashed into a highway retaining wall, crushing the cab of his truck. He had multiple broken bones, and was bleeding profusely. Time was the ene- Today, William is completely recovered from his injuries. He is grateful that LIFE STAR was there to save his life. my. His only chance was getting to the crew was able to start treating trauma center at Hartford O’Brien even before they lifted Hospital – fast. off for the return flight. Within seven minutes of receiving the call, LIFE STAR took off from the helipad at Hartford Hospital, with a pilot, a flight nurse and a flight respiratory therapist aboard. About one-third of LIFE STAR’s calls are for trauma patients such as O’Brien, often the victims of horrible accidents. The rest are for sick patients such as cardiac, stroke or pediatric patients who must be Carrying the same state-oftransported from one hospital the-art equipment and exICU to another to ensure the pertise found in any ICU, the best care. “We deliver critical care when and where it is needed most,’’ said Dr. Kenneth Robinson, director of LIFE STAR. “Every day, we have the honor and privilege of saving lives.’’ William O’Brien was transported by LIFE STAR to the Hartford Hospital Trauma Center after a car accident left him critically injured and clinging to life. 8 - LIFE STAR 30th Anniversary Special O’Brien, now 24, has relearned how to walk, talk and play guitar and piano, activities he took for granted before he was injured. His parents, Lisa and William Sr., have gotten their son back. And they could not be more grateful.