north colorado med evac celebrates 30 years of service

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165 July-August 2012 In the heart of rural America is the sleepy agricultural city of Greeley, Colorado. That is where you will find the home base for North Colorado Med Evac air medical transport serv- ice. For 30 years and 20,000+ safe transports, the citizens of the community have depended on the Med Evac flight pro- gram to bring state-of-the-art medicine to them in their hour of need, and for 30 consecutive safe years Med Evac has done exactly that! North Colorado Med Evac originated as AirLife of Greeley on July 1, 1982, with Air Methods as the vendor, flying a Bell 206 L1 helicopter. AirLife was a pioneer program in the coun- try and only the second program established in Colorado. During the first year of service, the program flew 133 mis- sions and was well on its way to establishing the safe, profes- sional, and friendly service that customers have come to love and expect. Terry York, the original mechanic for that first air- craft, still remains the mechanic of the Med Evac 1 base heli- copter. The program attributes much of its safe history to the vigilance of such mechanics. Through the years, AirLife grew in flight numbers and upgraded the aircraft from the Bell 206 L1 to the Bell 206 L3 and finally to the Bell 407s flown now. AirLife obtained Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems accreditation in 1996 and was awarded the Air Medical Safety Award that same year and again in 2003. In February, 2008 AirLife changed vendors from Air Methods to Med-Trans Corporation, and a name change ensued. AirLife of Greeley became North Colorado Med Evac and expanded its service to include a second aircraft in Erie, Colorado. This expansion extended the coverage area to the south and west. In 2011 Med Evac was proud to be awarded a preferred provider status for Children’s Hospital of Colorado and Boulder Community Hospital, and this July marks the pro- gram’s impressive 30-year anniversary. The Team Med Evac staffs its helicopters with the best pilots in the industry. The pilots must have at least 2500 hours of flight time, with 500 of that at high altitude, to apply. They also undergo rigorous quarterly training that includes night vision goggles, visual flight rules (VFR), AVFR, night VFR, and mountain flying. The pilots also undergo rigorous quarterly training that includes NVG, VFR, AVFR, Night VFR and mountain flying. The medical team roster consists of 42 registered nurses (RNs) and paramedics. Each flight is staffed with an RN and a paramedic or, on high-risk obstetric (HROB) calls, an RN and an HROB RN. In 2008, Med Evac added a specialty HROB transport team consisting of 8 certified and highly experi- enced obstetric nurses. The RN/paramedic configuration is ideal for the service area and patient mix, which is approximately 60% interfacil- ity transports and 40% scene calls. Med Evac requires the flight nurses to have at least 3 years of intensive care unit (ICU) experience and hold an advanced certification before applying, and the paramedics must have at least 3 years of experience on a busy ambulance service. Kerry Evens, RN, BSN, CFRN, CEN North Colorado Med Evac Celebrates 30 Years of Service

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Page 1: North Colorado Med Evac Celebrates 30 Years of Service

165July-August 2012

In the heart of rural America is the sleepy agricultural cityof Greeley, Colorado. That is where you will find the homebase for North Colorado Med Evac air medical transport serv-ice. For 30 years and 20,000+ safe transports, the citizens ofthe community have depended on the Med Evac flight pro-gram to bring state-of-the-art medicine to them in their hourof need, and for 30 consecutive safe years Med Evac has doneexactly that!

North Colorado Med Evac originated as AirLife of Greeleyon July 1, 1982, with Air Methods as the vendor, flying a Bell206 L1 helicopter. AirLife was a pioneer program in the coun-try and only the second program established in Colorado.During the first year of service, the program flew 133 mis-sions and was well on its way to establishing the safe, profes-sional, and friendly service that customers have come to loveand expect. Terry York, the original mechanic for that first air-craft, still remains the mechanic of the Med Evac 1 base heli-copter. The program attributes much of its safe history to thevigilance of such mechanics.

Through the years, AirLife grew in flight numbers andupgraded the aircraft from the Bell 206 L1 to the Bell 206 L3and finally to the Bell 407s flown now. AirLife obtainedCommission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systemsaccreditation in 1996 and was awarded the Air Medical SafetyAward that same year and again in 2003.

In February, 2008 AirLife changed vendors from AirMethods to Med-Trans Corporation, and a name changeensued. AirLife of Greeley became North Colorado Med Evacand expanded its service to include a second aircraft in Erie,

Colorado. This expansion extended the coverage area to thesouth and west.

In 2011 Med Evac was proud to be awarded a preferredprovider status for Children’s Hospital of Colorado andBoulder Community Hospital, and this July marks the pro-gram’s impressive 30-year anniversary.

The TeamMed Evac staffs its helicopters with the best pilots in the

industry. The pilots must have at least 2500 hours of flighttime, with 500 of that at high altitude, to apply. They alsoundergo rigorous quarterly training that includes night visiongoggles, visual flight rules (VFR), AVFR, night VFR, andmountain flying.

The pilots also undergo rigorous quarterly training thatincludes NVG, VFR, AVFR, Night VFR and mountain flying.

The medical team roster consists of 42 registered nurses(RNs) and paramedics. Each flight is staffed with an RN and aparamedic or, on high-risk obstetric (HROB) calls, an RN andan HROB RN. In 2008, Med Evac added a specialty HROBtransport team consisting of 8 certified and highly experi-enced obstetric nurses.

The RN/paramedic configuration is ideal for the servicearea and patient mix, which is approximately 60% interfacil-ity transports and 40% scene calls. Med Evac requires theflight nurses to have at least 3 years of intensive care unit(ICU) experience and hold an advanced certification beforeapplying, and the paramedics must have at least 3 years ofexperience on a busy ambulance service.

Kerry Evens, RN, BSN, CFRN, CEN

North Colorado Med Evac Celebrates 30 Years of Service

Page 2: North Colorado Med Evac Celebrates 30 Years of Service

Although these are the minimum requirements, the typicalcrew has between 7-10 years of experience before beginningtheir flight careers. On a typical Med Evac flight, there is gen-erally 25-60 years of experience among the nurse, pilot, andparamedic! The nurses take the lead on the interfacility trans-ports, with the paramedics working to their strength by tak-ing the lead on scene calls.

Med Evac also enjoys having a dispatch center located on siteat North Colorado Medical Center. This team of highly trainingflight dispatchers is a vital component of the entire flight opera-tions. The program fondly refers to them as our “guardians onthe ground.”

No flight team would be complete without the support ofthe myriad of emergency medical services, law agencies, firedepartments, and hospital staff that we serve. Med Evacspends countless hours each year training our support staff insafe helicopter operations, loading, landing zone preparation,and patient packaging. Additionally, the service has an educa-tional outreach program that sends members of the experi-enced team to do lectures as requested for CME credit. Thisprogram is at no cost to the customers and ultimately benefitsthe patients and community.

Critical TransportMed Evac operates 24/7, and a typical 24-hour shift sees

2-4 flights, with an average flight length of 1-1.5 hours. In2011, Med Evac transported well over 800 patients. Theprogram transports all types of patients from either scenesor smaller hospitals to tertiary care facilities; trauma, med-ical, pediatric, and OB patients are just a few examples. MedEvac can function as a mobile ICU, with ventilators, inva-sive monitoring, intravenous drips, expansive medical pro-tocols, and most importantly, a highly trained staff. To thisend, the program has a comprehensive orientation programfor new employees and a rigorous ongoing training scheduleto keep the crew up to date on the latest medical trends andsharpen their skills.

Mission/Vision and ValuesVision: North Colorado Med Evac will be an industry

leader in critical care air transport service. Our team will bedifferentiated by our commitment to excellent patient care,safety, quality leadership, integrated team involvement, inno-vation in operations, and treating our clients with respect andintegrity while fostering the Banner Health values.

Mission: North Colorado Med Evac is committed to thedelivery of safe, compassionate, and clinically excellentpatient care.

Values: Safety above all. Teamwork through respect, par-ticipation, accountability, honesty, and integrity. Adaptabilitythrough science-based protocols. Results through exceedingthe expectations of our customers in a fiscally responsiblemanner Med Evac adheres to the safety mantra of “3 to go, 1to say no,” which means that all 3 crewmembers on eachflight must agree to go on a mission. One dissenting vote can

abort the mission with no questions asked. A record of 30years of accident-free missions proves that these processesand values are effective!

The FutureIn keeping with the commitment of fiscal responsibility,

Med-Trans is one of only a few companies to offer a subscrip-tion program that has the potential to provide significant sav-ings to customers.

Med Evac plans to expand the service soon to include criti-cal care ground transport that will allow for an even broaderrange of patient transports, including transport in inclementweather when a helicopter is unable to fly, bariatric patients,and those requiring larger equipment like intra-aortic balloonpump or ventricular assistance devices.

In the face of potential sweeping health care changes, MedEvac remains in a strong position to continue to offer the highquality, service-oriented and friendly care that we havebecome known for. There is no substitute for expertise andexperience, and with 30 years under our belt, Med Evac hasboth. We are proud of where we have come from, who weare, and where we are going!

Kerry Evens, RN, BSN, CFRN, CEN, is the chief flight nurse forNorth Colorado Med Evac in Greeley. Photos by Bo Cheatham.

1067-991X/$36.00Copyright 2012 Air Medical Journal Associatesdoi:10.1016/j.amj.2012.05.004

Air Medical Journal 31:4166