Great-great-niece saved by helicopter.

[RSKY]

The following account comes from my sister, the great grandmother and is, at best, third hand.

On Wednesday August 31st my five month old great, great niece woke up a little fussy. As the day wore on she started to run a little temp. Her mother treated her with Tylenol and put her to bed. Next morning she had diarrhea and her temp was up and when it reached 102 the mom packed her up and drove twenty five miles to the pediatrician's office. By the time she got there the temp was 104 and climbing and the diarrhea showed blood. After a lengthy exam the doctor decided she had a condition caused by the intestines becoming twisted and overlapping each other. If uncorrected the intestines and colon would die and the best they could hope for was removal of the lower intestines and colon and chances of a normal life would be gone IF she survived. None of the local hospitals had a pediatric surgeon qualified to do this surgery or the facilities to operate on such a small child.

The decision was quickly made to transport to Nashville to Vanderbilt University Hospital where the personnel and equipment were available to treat the little girl. As soon as the decision was made to transport and nearly quicker than the child could be readied the AirEvac Lifeteam helicopter was on the ground and up again and moving south. The nearly two and a half hour drive was made in less than thirty minutes in the air. A team of doctors and staff was waiting and the little one was stabilized and prepped but they did not take her into surgery. Continued tests showed that she did not have the twisted intestines but something else. After thirty six hours of near constant treatment and testing it was determined that the infant had salmonella infection. She was treated and two days after her helicopter ride was home being her usual happy smiling self.

Doctors said that the little one would not have survived the ambulance trip and would have died on the road. By using the helicopter her life was saved.

Now to the point of the story. The bill for the ambulance flight was more than $47,000!

This is a young couple who are in their early twenties. It would have crippled them financially for years to pay this off. Would have been worth it but still crippling. He works in a family business which subscribes to the helicopter ambulance service for around $75 per year/per family.

They owe $0.

Think about it.

I give my daughters a subscription every year for Christmas. Started the year the oldest told me she was pregnant. One Christmas gift I hope they never use.

RSKY

 

[k0ua]

Wow! Thanks for posting this RSKY.

 

[Streetcar]

That is great outcome.
How widespread is the helicopter policy.
Around me there were a couple of communities that offered an ambulance policy, but they quit the policies

 

[Bird]

Always glad to hear of a happy outcome. When we lived out in the country, my parents, as well and my wife and I, subscribed to the ambulance service down there. It covered both helicopter and ground ambulance. My wife went to the hospital via ambulance once (after a car wreck) and both of my parents went via ambulance twice each. So it's definitely worth the subscription.

 

[Wagtail]

Over here it depends on the State. I know that Victoria has an ambulance fee... You can subscribe or include it on your private health cover, or cop it when it's required.

Here in Tassie it's a somewhat volunteer organisation (professionals supplemented by volunteers), especially in rural areas; which is practically the entire State aside from the 'Big Smokes'. There's no cost and is supported by corporate donations and fund-raising events. It's the same for the "Westpac" [a major bank] Rescue/Ambulance helicopter and the Royal Flying Doctors Service/Air Ambulance.

I regularly hear/see the RFDS twin engine aircraft come/leave the St Helens aerodrome (yep, it's called that) as we've only got a 'base hospital', which is it for the entire NE of the State.

 

[rtimgray]

I'm in the same coverage area as RSKY. We have a "subscription" or whatever it is called to the AirEVAC, and I'm kind of ambivalent about it. No, it's not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, and it is a form a insurance that you hope you never have to use.

However, I can't help but feel that the airlift programs, much like a lot of other health care providers, depend on a few people paying a lot, and a lot of people paying nothing. I'm sure that the actual cost of the flight was nowhere near $47,000, but they have to charge that much to get what they need to continue operating.

The only other negative thing that I have observed is that our local EMTs are quick to call the AirEvac unit. There was an instance just a couple of weeks ago when they called for the helicopter and the patient (from a car wreck) refused to board the helicopter (and refused to take the ambulance to the hospital). I have no idea who bears the cost for when services are refused.

I'm sure that if I were to need the service, I would be eternally grateful for it, and I'm glad such a service exists so that we have a happy ending as the OP posted. And we will probably continue to keep our subscription, because the cost is relatively low.

Good luck and take care.

 

[MF283]

My mother had a massive heart attack years ago, they called AirVac from Vanderbilt, they arrived, came to talk to us & the outcome, she died before anything could be done. There was no charge & they were very caring folks, sat with us while waiting.
Vanderbilt is right behind where i work, i see the copters daily & have even photographed them a few times being i have a fascination for helicopters.
We're an hour East of Nashville, Vanderbilt has a pad at the local airport, hear & see the copter frequently flying over our place, almost a daily occurrence, i do have to wonder if it is justified giving the OP's quote on cost.

Ronnie

 

[RSKY]

I'm not for sure how all the payments work for the helicopter ambulances but.....in several cases we know of the use of air transport has meant the difference between life and death. So I can say in all honesty that I hope the company is making huge profits, and I hope the owners and employees are all getting filthy rich.

There is a helicopter stationed at Jackson Purchase Medical in Mayfield, KY that provides service for our area. It comes and goes all the time and you can usually guess when they are transporting a patient from our local hospital to Nashville because they go nearly directly over our house. If they have a patient the little chopper will be in a nose down, tail in the air, attitude and MOVING. An hour or so it will come back at a more leisurely pace.

The service we are with, AirEvac, has been bought out and put under an umbrella organization called AirMedCare Network, AirMedCare Network - Medical Flight Transport Service - Your Family Is Priceless . You can look at their website and see if they cover your area. Rates have gone up some since the buyout but I DON'T CARE. I want the service available in case one of my family need it. As an example I worked with a guy in Union City TN whose mother had cancer. Don't know what kind or anything else about it but she had to use the helicopter four times in one year to be transported from Dyersberg TN to Nashville. Each time my co-worker said that she would have not survived an ambulance ride over the roads. After the fourth trip he got a letter from AirEvac telling him that since he had used the service so much they were going to have to raise his rates. He was worried that it would be raised so high that he wouldn't be able to pay. About a week later he came in to work smiling. He had got the new rates in a letter and they raised him from $45 a year (this was about ten years ago) to $65 a year. I asked him what he was going to do and he said he had already paid it smiling all the time he was writing the check.

I hope nobody in my immediate family ever uses the service. I hope I can look back years in the future and say with a smile on my face that it was money wasted on something we never used. I know the choppers will come even if you don't have the subscription BUT my subscription fees are what keeps the service operating and keeps it operating for everybody else.

If you have children and grandchildren a subscription is a wonderful gift to give.

RSKY

 

[TheMan419]

The local med evac flight plan is over my 18 acres when it is headed south. South of us is Indianapolis where you can have every specialist under the sun and they are usually rated top 10 in the US for their area. I always say a little prayer when I see that chopper going like a bat out of ****. Drive time would be 2.5 hours. Flight time I would imagine is 45 min tops. Of course you land right at the hospital and I am sure the doctor is waiting for you on the helipad.

Glad that we have such a service, hope like **** I never need to ride on that particular aircraft.

Glad this one worked out well!

 

[not2old]

We live an hour from a "full service" hospital. The government run ambulance service routinely sends a helicopter if it seems necessary. It is frequently sent back when it is determined that the patient doesn't require it. This is included in flat rate ambulance charges of $80.00 to the patient.