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Aeromed to provide emergency helicopter
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET © St. Petersburg Times, published September 27, 2000 INVERNESS -- Citrus County patients who now wait at least 20 minutes for a medical evacuation helicopter, or medevac, to rush them to a hospital trauma room will have a much shorter wait. The County Commission gave its approval Tuesday to Tampa General Hospital to station Aeromed 3 at the Inverness Regional Airport, putting a helicopter within a few minutes' flight time of any part of the county. Tampa General officials hope to get Aeromed 3 situated here by the end of the year, and the helicopter will be ready to go 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "The residents of Citrus County will now have a dedicated medical helicopter that will provide immediate medical assistance and transportation in the event of serious accidents," said Deana Nelson, senior vice president of patient care services at Tampa General. "It will also give them access to the specialized services that community hospitals may not provide, such as our regional burn unit, our state-designated spinal cord and head injury program, our organ transplant (unit) and Level 3 neonatal intensive care unit." Nelson said in emergencies, Aeromed 3 would take trauma patients to the closest or most appropriate facility. Tampa General and St. Joseph's Medical Center in Tampa are virtually the same distance from Citrus County. The medevac would also take local patients who needed more advanced procedures to larger hospitals. Nelson said in most cases, Tampa General would be able to provide the care that those patients need. Both Aeromed and Bayflite, the medevac program run by Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, were interested in stationing a helicopter in Citrus County. The closest medevacs now are the Shands University of Florida helicopter in Gainesville, and a Bayflite helicopter stationed in south Pasco County. It costs the county nothing to host either medevac, but the county had to choose one that would be called first in all emergencies. Commissioner Brad Thorpe, who rode with both providers, said Aeromed and Bayflite were both impressive. "This is one of those rare opportunities where we can't look bad," added Interim County Administrator Richard Wesch. "There's no wrong decision here." Public Safety Director Charles Poliseno recommended the county choose Aeromed because Tampa General committed to a station at the Inverness Airport, while Bayflite said it would locate somewhere between Inverness and Bushnell. Aeromed also charges the patient slightly less: Aeromed charges a $3,000 base lift-off fee and $70 per mile, while Bayflite charges a $3,820 lift-off fee and $76 per mile. Bayflite coordinator Ken Grimes said he was still interested in stationing a medevac in this region, perhaps in Sumter or Hernando counties, and he assured commissioners that Bayflite would be ready to help out if Aeromed needed assistance. "I'm happy for your community, which very much needs a helicopter in the area," Grimes said.
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