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Children's will add helicopter service for its young patients
By Cheryl Powell
Beacon Journal medical writer
Published on Friday, Aug 22, 2008
Akron Children's Hospital is taking its response capabilities for life-and-death medical emergencies to new heights.
Starting Nov. 1, the pediatric hospital is teaming up with a Dallas medical air transport company to bring a kids-only medical helicopter called ''Air Bear'' to the skies of northeast and central Ohio.
The Air Bear, valued at $6 million, will be based in downtown Akron on the hospital's rooftop helipad.
The medical chopper provided by Med-Trans Corp. of suburban Dallas will be adorned with the Akron Children's Hospital name, a smattering of brightly colored stars and a teddy bear decked out in pilot's gear.
Every flight will be staffed by a nurse, a respiratory therapist and a medic from Children's trained in pediatric critical care, said Dr. John Pope, a pediatric critical-care doctor and the hospital's medical director of transport services.
Hospital officials expect the Air Bear to transport about 600 babies, children and teenagers facing life-threatening medical conditions and injuries to Children's annually.
By traveling in the air, the medical team can respond within 15 or 20 minutes to community hospitals in Alliance, Mansfield, Youngstown and other cities that are an hour or longer away by ambulance, Pope said.
''It allows us to get the team to the children quicker,'' Pope said. ''We really begin to stabilize the child at the other hospital.''
Children's now uses air transport services with bases in Canton, Lodi, Cleveland and Pittsburgh to transport about 170 patients to the hospital via helicopter when necessary.
Children's also transports about 1,500 critically ill patients to the hospital each year via three ambulances that operate as mobile intensive-care units.
But when air transport is needed, the hospital has to wait for an aircraft to become available and pick up the transport team from Children's before it can start flying to the patient, Pope said.
''Now it takes 45 minutes or more to get a helicopter here to put up our team,'' he said. ''That really defeats the purpose of using a helicopter, because we're not saving time.''
Under the long-term contract, Med-Trans will own the helicopter and provide an Akron-based team of four pilots and one full-time mechanic for around-the-clock availability, said Tom Rohlfs, the company's vice president of business development.
Med-Trans will bill patients and their insurers for the service and pay Children's for providing the medical staff for the flights, he said.
''We've got a very good teammate in this partnership,'' Rohlfs said.
Med-Trans has similar programs with hospitals in Arizona, California, Colorado, Kentucky, North Dakota, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
''This has been a very popular model for us, given the high cost of acquisition of the aircraft,'' Rohlfs said.
Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland uses air transport services provided by MedEvac, which is run by Rainbow's parent, University Hospitals.
One of MedEvac's bases is at Williams Aviation FBO, adjacent to Akron Fulton International Airport.
Of the estimated 2,000 pediatric patients Rainbow transports to the hospital each year, about 400 require air transport through MedEvac, said Dr. Michael Anderson, vice president and associate chief medical officer for University Hospitals.
''We have found this system to be really beneficial because it leads to quick turnaround times,'' Anderson said. ''It's a very busy service.''
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or chpowell@thebeaconjournal.com.
Akron Children's Hospital is taking its response capabilities for life-and-death medical emergencies to new heights.
Get the full article here.
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