Citrus: Talks delay medevac copter

Talks delay medevac copter

Officials say that postponing the switch from a one- to a two-patient helicopter for Citrus poses no danger.

By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET

INVERNESS -- Officials now expect it will be a couple of months, perhaps mid May, before Citrus County receives the two-patient medical evacuation helicopter it was promised in September.

But county officials and EMS workers say they are not concerned about the delay, because the single-patient helicopter that has been in Citrus since Jan. 15 has been able to handle most calls.

"From an EMS point of view, we have no problem with the fact that they can transport only one patient," said Teresa Gorentz, executive director of Nature Coast Emergency Medical Services.

"It has been extremely helpful having them here," county Public Safety Director Charles Poliseno added. "If they're meeting the need and EMS has not expressed any concern, a one-month delay is not that significant to us now."

Tampa General Hospital and Bayfront Medical Center both approached Citrus County last year with proposals to station a helicopter around the clock, at no charge to the county, to airlift trauma patients to Tampa-area hospitals. Both offered BK-117 choppers that could carry two patients, a flight nurse, a paramedic and the pilot.

Up until then, the nearest medical helicopters were based in Gainesville and south Pasco County. Having a helicopter in Citrus County would reduce the response times for patients during the "golden hour," the first 60 minutes after a serious injury when survival chances are best, given the proper treatment.

The County Commission picked Tampa General in September, and the hospital said it hoped to have Aeromed 3 ready before the end of the year. Tampa General missed that deadline but got a temporary copter in place by Jan. 15.

The Twin Star helicopter carries the same equipment and same number of flight crew members as the BK-117, but only one patient.

At the time, Aeromed officials told the Citrus Times they hoped to have the two-patient helicopter ready in four to eight weeks. Poliseno said officials gave him a longer estimate, setting mid April as the goal.

Tampa General spokesman John Dunn said Tuesday he now expects it will be mid May before the two-patient helicopter is suited with medical equipment, repainted with the Aeromed colors and stationed in Inverness.

Dunn said recent renegotiations between Tampa General and its aircraft vendor, Corporate Jets, have delayed the preparations of the Inverness chopper. The hospital provides the medical crew, and Corporate Jets offers the aircraft and pilot for similar medevac stations in Tampa and Sebring.

Now that the negotiations over those services are complete, Dunn said both parties will focus on preparing a BK-117 for Citrus, although he said the single-patient helicopter has covered the county well.

"The size of the helicopter has not been an issue at all," Dunn said. "There is no great concern here because we are functioning and we are doing the job up here, and that's what the main goal was."

"We're not talking about any diminishment of service," he added.

Since the single-patient Aeromed 3 craft went into service Jan. 15, there has been only one instance -- a car accident last week -- in which a second helicopter was called to a Citrus scene because two patients needed to be airlifted, Nature Coast EMS resource management director Randy Van Alstine said.

On several other occasions, the Bayflite helicopter in Sumter County has responded to Citrus calls because Aeromed 3 was tied up at a different scene, Van Alstine said.

Altogether, Aeromed 3 has transported 17 patients, he said.