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California Shock Trauma Air Rescue (Calstar) pilots flying out of Calstar's South Lake Tahoe base recently tried out the latest design in helicopter engineering - a tail rotorless model called the MD 902.
'This is one of the most advanced helicopters in the world,' said Tom Pandola, director of operations since March 2007 at the Calstar 6 base housed at the South Lake Tahoe Airport.
As often as not, when someone is badly injured in a car wreck in Placerville, has broken a leg on a Lake Tahoe ski slope or suffered a heart attack in Cameron Park, Calstar will be called in to quickly transport the victim to the closest medically appropriate hospital or trauma center.
'The first 60 minutes following a traumatic or life-threatening event, such as an accident, fall, heart attack or stroke, are critical,' said Pandola, who worked with the Los Angeles City Fire Department for 25 years before moving to Tahoe. 'Timely access to the appropriate medical treatment affects not only survival rate but also severity of after-effects and disability.'
But in El Dorado County, where the level of care needed after a medical emergency can easily extend beyond the closest hospital's capabilities, getting appropriate treatment in that 'golden hour' can be a challenge.
This new model aircraft will be put to good use in El Dorado County where much of the region is situated at elevations that can be 'more challenging than usual for helicopters to fly due to thin air density,' making the MD 902's capabilities highly valued, Pandola said.
In turn, the aircraft's heightened level of safety and dependability can help drive down the time it takes to get a patient to an appropriate medical facility, he added.
The idea of a civilian air ambulance service took off in the late 1970s and early 1980s, after the Vietnam War raised awareness that the quicker you can get a soldier into surgery, the better his chances of survival. There, in the surgical tents behind the lines of battle, the concept of the 'golden hour' was born.
The first aircraft used as an air ambulance was the Concord in 1984. Over the next several years nonprofit air ambulance organizations sprouted up around the country, including Calstar, which opened its eighth base in South Lake Tahoe in 2001 (Calstar covers most of Northern California, as far north as Ukiah and as far south as Santa Maria).
Pandola's crew was selected to test the MD 902 under the assumption that if the bird could withstand the rigors of mountain flying, where wind and weather patterns are unpredictable, it would do well everywhere else Calstar flies.
So far, the new chopper 'has performed at optimal levels, meeting the challenges of serving a mountainous area,' Pandola said.
What makes this model unique, according to Calstar 6 pilot Mark Alley, is the helicopter's exceptional power and twin engine reliability (with twin engines, the bird can fly over water), smooth ride and NOTAR system, which is the technology used to control the aircraft without a tail rotor.
The MD 902 'uses an individual fan and drive system to maintain stability' ordinarily achieved with a tail rotor, said Alley, who maintains Calstar 6's fleet of birds when he is not flying them.
Because there is no tail rotor, the aircraft's safety rating 'has gone way up' over previous models, Alley said.
Another advantage of the new aircraft is its interior, Pandola said, which is larger than previous models and can hold two patients while providing 'increased accessibility of the patient by the flight nurse crew (of two), and allows them to perform life saving procedures in flight more easily than in a smaller cabin area.'
'It's a great EMS platform because the new technology serves both the crew and patient needs extremely well,' said another Calstar pilot, Mark Davis.
Flight nurses Kelly D'Agostini and J.J. Fielding agree that the MD 902 is to helicopters what a Rolls Royce is to automobiles.
'It's so much quieter, which is really nice for both the patients and the flight nurses,' D'Agostini said.
Because there is no tail rotor and the main rotor has five blades instead of the more common three- or four-blade rotor, the MD 902 is extremely quiet and stable, Pandola explained.
Calstar's flight nurses are among the most highly trained in the country, more highly trained than the usual EMS provider or paramedic, Fielding said. 'We're like a flying emergency room,' she added, saying that she and her colleagues can perform many of the same procedures done in a typical ER.
Both nurses began their lengthy nursing careers in hospitals, D'Agostini working in critical care at Mercy San Juan and Fielding working ICU units at two local area hospitals as well as being a traveling ER nurse.
Both women, whose lifelong dream has been to become a flight nurse one day, applied with Calstar because they love their careers and they love to fly. They said they like the variety of the cases they work along with the autonomy and responsibility that comes with treating patients in critical care situations before hospital care is accessible.
With the MD 902's test period complete, Calstar is in the process of purchasing five of the aircraft, thereby enhancing the organization's ability to 'save lives, reduce disability and speed recovery for victims of trauma and illness through rapid transport, quality medical care and education,' which is the nonprofit's mission statement.
'As a nonprofit, we don't need to make money, we just need to make enough money,' Pandola said.
As such, Calstar is making its services available through memberships, which, along with donations, help the organization pay salaries and purchase state-of-the-art equipment. For membership information, contact Calstar Membership Program at 1-888-207-LIFE (5433).
http://www.mtdemocrat.com/story.php?id=101.1
'This is one of the most advanced helicopters in the world,' said Tom Pandola, director of operations since March 2007 at the Calstar 6 base housed at the South Lake Tahoe Airport.
As often as not, when someone is badly injured in a car wreck in Placerville, has broken a leg on a Lake Tahoe ski slope or suffered a heart attack in Cameron Park, Calstar will be called in to quickly transport the victim to the closest medically appropriate hospital or trauma center.
'The first 60 minutes following a traumatic or life-threatening event, such as an accident, fall, heart attack or stroke, are critical,' said Pandola, who worked with the Los Angeles City Fire Department for 25 years before moving to Tahoe. 'Timely access to the appropriate medical treatment affects not only survival rate but also severity of after-effects and disability.'
But in El Dorado County, where the level of care needed after a medical emergency can easily extend beyond the closest hospital's capabilities, getting appropriate treatment in that 'golden hour' can be a challenge.
This new model aircraft will be put to good use in El Dorado County where much of the region is situated at elevations that can be 'more challenging than usual for helicopters to fly due to thin air density,' making the MD 902's capabilities highly valued, Pandola said.
In turn, the aircraft's heightened level of safety and dependability can help drive down the time it takes to get a patient to an appropriate medical facility, he added.
The idea of a civilian air ambulance service took off in the late 1970s and early 1980s, after the Vietnam War raised awareness that the quicker you can get a soldier into surgery, the better his chances of survival. There, in the surgical tents behind the lines of battle, the concept of the 'golden hour' was born.
The first aircraft used as an air ambulance was the Concord in 1984. Over the next several years nonprofit air ambulance organizations sprouted up around the country, including Calstar, which opened its eighth base in South Lake Tahoe in 2001 (Calstar covers most of Northern California, as far north as Ukiah and as far south as Santa Maria).
Pandola's crew was selected to test the MD 902 under the assumption that if the bird could withstand the rigors of mountain flying, where wind and weather patterns are unpredictable, it would do well everywhere else Calstar flies.
So far, the new chopper 'has performed at optimal levels, meeting the challenges of serving a mountainous area,' Pandola said.
What makes this model unique, according to Calstar 6 pilot Mark Alley, is the helicopter's exceptional power and twin engine reliability (with twin engines, the bird can fly over water), smooth ride and NOTAR system, which is the technology used to control the aircraft without a tail rotor.
The MD 902 'uses an individual fan and drive system to maintain stability' ordinarily achieved with a tail rotor, said Alley, who maintains Calstar 6's fleet of birds when he is not flying them.
Because there is no tail rotor, the aircraft's safety rating 'has gone way up' over previous models, Alley said.
Another advantage of the new aircraft is its interior, Pandola said, which is larger than previous models and can hold two patients while providing 'increased accessibility of the patient by the flight nurse crew (of two), and allows them to perform life saving procedures in flight more easily than in a smaller cabin area.'
'It's a great EMS platform because the new technology serves both the crew and patient needs extremely well,' said another Calstar pilot, Mark Davis.
Flight nurses Kelly D'Agostini and J.J. Fielding agree that the MD 902 is to helicopters what a Rolls Royce is to automobiles.
'It's so much quieter, which is really nice for both the patients and the flight nurses,' D'Agostini said.
Because there is no tail rotor and the main rotor has five blades instead of the more common three- or four-blade rotor, the MD 902 is extremely quiet and stable, Pandola explained.
Calstar's flight nurses are among the most highly trained in the country, more highly trained than the usual EMS provider or paramedic, Fielding said. 'We're like a flying emergency room,' she added, saying that she and her colleagues can perform many of the same procedures done in a typical ER.
Both nurses began their lengthy nursing careers in hospitals, D'Agostini working in critical care at Mercy San Juan and Fielding working ICU units at two local area hospitals as well as being a traveling ER nurse.
Both women, whose lifelong dream has been to become a flight nurse one day, applied with Calstar because they love their careers and they love to fly. They said they like the variety of the cases they work along with the autonomy and responsibility that comes with treating patients in critical care situations before hospital care is accessible.
With the MD 902's test period complete, Calstar is in the process of purchasing five of the aircraft, thereby enhancing the organization's ability to 'save lives, reduce disability and speed recovery for victims of trauma and illness through rapid transport, quality medical care and education,' which is the nonprofit's mission statement.
'As a nonprofit, we don't need to make money, we just need to make enough money,' Pandola said.
As such, Calstar is making its services available through memberships, which, along with donations, help the organization pay salaries and purchase state-of-the-art equipment. For membership information, contact Calstar Membership Program at 1-888-207-LIFE (5433).
http://www.mtdemocrat.com/story.php?id=101.1
