Great-great-niece saved by helicopter.

[rox]

[snip]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.[snip]

RSKY

Thankfully everything turned out ok.
You have given me food for thought about the cost of Helicopter Medical services.
I wonder though how the little girl got salmonella?

 

[Streetcar]

Not sure we need a study to tell us that taking an expedited mode of transportation to the hospital when in life threatening trouble saves lives.

The study would be if the medical helicopter is cost effective. Is ther a cheaper solution that offers similar survival rates

 

[RSKY]

Nobody has a clue how she got it. The family was concerned and talking about throwing away everything in the house, grandparents houses, and great grandparents houses. The doctors told them not to throw anything away unless it looked suspicious. Then gave them an example of a long chain of events starting with, I think, a person cracking eggs and how raw egg could be passed on a cooking utensil to a counter top to a plate to a hand to a sanitized nipple on a bottle. Or since she was taken outside a couple days before she got sick, a little blue-tailed lizard might have smelled of a snack unseen and transferred some bacteria that way. In other words they will never know.

I agree that the choppers may be over used. I also know of a couple cases where the patient would not have survived without the quick transport. I know that insurance MAY pay all of the transportation costs in some cases. But not knowing the viability of the business without the subscription fees makes me glad to pay the fees just to keep the service in our area. I have two daughters and soon will have four grandchildren. I want this option available if they ever need it. Therefore I will buy subscriptions even if they triple the price.

Off the subject slightly but the people who have used the service, such as the guy whose mother was transported earlier, talked about the speed and efficiency of the nurses on these choppers. Said they had an aura of competence, efficiency, and compassion unlike any he had seen before. They probably pay very well and attract the 'best of the best'.

I also talked to an insurance adjuster a couple years ago whose wife was a dispatcher for AirEvac. He said they had to be careful what they told the pilots. The words "two year old little girl" would cause pilots to attempt to launch "in the middle of a tornado in a blizzard".

Man, talk about a rewarding job. Flying around saving lives..............

Probably very stressful too................

RSKY

 

[Threepoint]

[snip]
Man, talk about a rewarding job. Flying around saving lives..............

Probably very stressful too................

RSKY

Yes, and from what I've read, it's among the most dangerous of civilian jobs. Probably because the trips are often flown in iffy weather, or at night, or into difficult settings. Or all of the above.

Another poster mentioned that he says a prayer whenever he sees an AirVac chopper flying over his spread. Made me think yes, for both the patient and the crew! Those folks should never have to buy their own drinks in a bar. :thumbsup:

 

[ray66v]

The study would be if the medical helicopter is cost effective. Is ther a cheaper solution that offers similar survival rates

I did some research on this today. Since I saw that story, which turns out was a while ago, they have done some studies.

And, depending on conditions, generally, med evac is not cost effective. And, does not improve survival rates.

But, some studies suggested it can, with changes.

 

[ray66v]

Yes, and from what I've read, it's among the most dangerous of civilian jobs. Probably because the trips are often flown in iffy weather, or at night, or into difficult settings. Or all of the above.

Another poster mentioned that he says a prayer whenever he sees an AirVac chopper flying over his spread. Made me think yes, for both the patient and the crew! Those folks should never have to buy their own drinks in a bar. :thumbsup:

I do know two helicopter pilots, who flew med evac.

They weren't pressured to fly, but they only had 5 minutes to get in the air, or turn down the job, when the call comes in.

During that time, you may have to wake up, decide if it's doable, dress, get the chopper out of the hangar, if the weather was unfavorable, and fire it up.

They routinely land in unknown surroundings, at night. And, of course take off again.

Even some of the hospital landing areas are real scary, during the day.

 

[ultrarunner]

Never heard of flight insurance locally...

Seeing helicopters at the local trauma center isn't very common but they did build a new pad a few years back.

I can usually get to a hospital faster than waiting for an ambulance...

 

[dmccarty]

....

I also talked to an insurance adjuster a couple years ago whose wife was a dispatcher for AirEvac. He said they had to be careful what they told the pilots. The words "two year old little girl" would cause pilots to attempt to launch "in the middle of a tornado in a blizzard".
...
RSKY

When one of my kids was about 7 months old she got sick right before XMAS. We took the kid to the doctor who said it was a cold. MY a...s it was a cold. Right before heading to the family's house for XMAS and a day or so after the previous visit, we took the kid back to the doctor who gave us the same line...

Leaving out a bunch of bad stuff. We travel 12 hours from home and end up taking the kid to a doc in the box because the baby is in bad, bad shape. This is in an area with a very high number of old people. The doc in the box is almost always dealing with old people and not children much less babies. EMS is called to transport to the hospital. When the EMT/Paramedic walk into the room, the guy in charge does a stutter step. He is expecting an old person not a baby struggling to live...

They do some quick checks and off we go to the ambulance. The wife gets in the gurney so they can strap her in since they are going to let her hold the baby on the way to the ER. The wifey had been holding it together up to that point but that is when she lost it. I handed her the baby and off they went. Now, my bad was that I did not warn the wifey what was about to happen. I knew the driver was going to drive like a bat out of hades to get to the ER since they had a baby is bad shape. Said driver was going to get to the ER as fast as he could and he did. He drove over curbs, he went into the opposite travel lane to pass stopped cars at intersections, he went up on side walks, the ambulance driver made Richard Petty look like he was Driving Mrs. Daisy. I don't think he pushed any cars out of the way with his bumper but he seemed to do everything else. :laughing::laughing::laughing: I knew what the driver was apt to do but did not warn the wife. Great crew. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Lots of stuff happened after we get to the ER. The so called doctor at home missed that the baby had RSV AND a kidney infection. I don't think the baby would have lived another 8-12 hours if we had not gotten to the ER. The baby survived but I earned some gray hair. The baby is now a teenager and is giving me more gray hair..... :laughing::laughing::laughing:

We never went back to that incompetent doctor and I really wish there had been a way to get her license to PRACTICE medicine revoked...

Later,
Dan