West Michigan AirCare to end helicopter services

[dispatchgeek]

West Michigan Air Care to end helicopter service

West Michigan Air Care will discontinue its helicopter service at Ascension Borgess Hospital and Bronson Healthcare.

www.woodtv.com

Sad day really. I’ll be curious to see if Aeromed and Memorial Lifeflight will pick up the slack in the Kalamazoo area or if a new competitor will emerge.

 

[bodnarp]

When you stop and think about scene calls, by the time the fire dept sets up a LZ and by the time the chopper checks weather etc, the ambulance could be at the hospital faster. Choppers are great for small hospitals to bigger hospital transfers.

 

[dispatchgeek]

When you stop and think about scene calls, by the time the fire dept sets up a LZ and by the time the chopper checks weather etc, the ambulance could be at the hospital faster. Choppers are great for small hospitals to bigger hospital transfers.

I would wholeheartedly agree with you for scene responses close to a major hospital. This hurts surrounding rural areas the most in regards to scene responses. It’s when you’re responding to the PI with extrication and it’s at least an hour away from any decent hospitals. I agree with you on the interfacility transfers. AirCare does a lot of the inter facility stuff that would not fare so well in a ground ambulance.

 

[bodnarp]

I would wholeheartedly agree with you for scene responses close to a major hospital. This hurts surrounding rural areas the most in regards to scene responses. It’s when you’re responding to the PI with extrication and it’s at least an hour away from any decent hospitals. I agree with you on the interfacility transfers. AirCare does a lot of the inter facility stuff that would not fare so well in a ground ambulance.

Then you hear the stories of patients getting stuck with a chopper bill as insurance would not pay it for them and the patient states they did not call the chopper

 

[dispatchgeek]

Then you hear the stories of patients getting stuck with a chopper bill as insurance would not pay it for them and the patient states they did not call the chopper

I’m going to finish my statement with this, as I do not wish to get political. AirCare has been a means to an end for some of my own patients when any delay or holdup in definitive care would have most likely resulted in death.

I will not discuss healthcare billing practices here. I certainly have never been on a scene debating whether the decision to apply the best care for a patient would be worth their bill. It’s a single goal. The right care at the right time for the right patient.

The loss of this tool is detrimental to patient care for people that get hurt or ill at a great distance away from a hospital equipped to care for them.

 

[krokus]

This could be bad news, for anyone seriously injured in a remote area. Survival Flight, from Howell, will be the next closest option, IIRC. This delay could be costly.

 

[bodnarp]

I’m going to finish my statement with this, as I do not wish to get political. AirCare has been a means to an end for some of my own patients when any delay or holdup in definitive care would have most likely resulted in death.

I will not discuss healthcare billing practices here. I certainly have never been on a scene debating whether the decision to apply the best care for a patient would be worth their bill. It’s a single goal. The right care at the right time for the right patient.

The loss of this tool is detrimental to patient care for people that get hurt or ill at a great distance away from a hospital equipped to care for them.

Hey look I used to fly with Bronson's Carflight when we had the red and white Huey