University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, May 2, 1990
Health
5B
When Seconds Count...
Plot Mike Palmer and flight nurses Craig Fordham and Danny Ohi rch out on another call. The LifeWATCH unit averages six flights a day.
Palmer records daily flight information in his log book. Accounts of each flight must be documented.
Tamara Huts, a registered nurse in perinatal care, discusses details for care of the newborn patient. Infants and pregnant mothers are the unit's most frequent patients.
LifeWATCH team members thrive on life-and-death situations, waiting to bring a miracle to Kansas' critically injured patients
WICHITA - A call comes in and the team responds.
Within moments, the team has dressed, loaded the helicopter and pushed it out of the hangar and onto the runway. The process takes about three minutes.
The chopper takes off and heads for its destination. The team knows it will be required to work as quickly and efficiently as possible. Because more often than not, seconds can mean the difference between life and death.
This is the world of LifeWATCH, an air-and land-traum unit designed to transport critically ill and injured patients to hospitals and offer on-the-spot care to stabilize patients before transport.
LifeWATCH operates out of HCA Wesley Medical Center in Wichita but serves most of southern and western Kansas, said Danny Ohl, a flight nurse in the program.
He said LifeWATCH offered four types of trauma transport services, including maternal, neonatal and critical care and first-response transports. LifeWATCH, which began in 1974 as one of the nation's first mobile perinatal units, was one of the first hospital-based air ambulance services in the country.
Ohl, who has been with the program two years, said the seemingly incredible pressure that went with a job full of life-and-disease situations did not bother him. In fact, he said he thrived on it.
"I really wouldn't want to be doing anything else," Ohl said. "I think a job that did not test and challenge my abilities every time out would be much more stressful to me."
Craig Fortham, another flight nurse in the program, said he also was attracted to the challenge and excitement of the job.
"To me, life-and death situations are what make the job exciting." Fordham said. "I think they are a breeze. If you get stressed out in those types of situations, you really wouldn't want to have this job."
Not many people would. On a weekly basis, LifeWATCH responds to numerous gunshot wounds, farm accidents, automobile accidents and other life-threatening situations.
Fordham said this also was not a problem.
"You get de-sensitized very quickly when you work this job," he said. "I have seen some really horrible things. I honestly don't think
Palmer is one of five helicopter pilots in the program. All have military flight experience. He said hospital transfers of cardiac patients were the most frequent calls the team received, but not the most difficult
"First-response calls at night are the biggest challenges for the pilots," he said. "It is very difficult trying to maintain control with perfect precision at night."
there is any situation I could run into that would shock me anymore."
The rescue team unloads a patient from one of the two airplanes used by the unit.
Mike Palmer, helicopter pilot for the program, said accidents happened any time of the day or night, which forced members to be prepared to rush off at a moment's police to answer a call.
The team's headquarters is in a building at Col. M. James Jabara Airport in Wichita, only a few miles away from Wesley. The flight team spends some of its time waiting for calls in a furnished apartment, which has three bedrooms, a kitchen, a living area, a television and a VCR
cary is our home. It is a home where the team stays when not on missions during the 12- to 18-hour shifts a day, during which many of the members often are on call.
"we cook here, we eat here and we sleep here," Palmer said. "The waiting isn't that bad because this basically is our home."
while it is LifeWATCH has grown steadily during its 15 years in service. In 1974, the program started out with one specially designed perinatal ambulation. Today the program uses four fixed-wing aircraft, two helicopters and three ground vehicles.
can. Fordham said spending those excessive amounts of time with the other members helped the unit to
During the past 15 years, Life-WATCH has transported more than 12,000 patients and has flown more than one million miles. More than 80 people are involved in the program, including filmmakers, dispatchers, drivers, physicians, pilots and administrative staff.
Story by Steve Bailey Photography by Steve Traynor
Helicopter crews on duty lift off within three minutes of all first-response calls, and fixed wing flights, which fly to spots across the country, take off within 30 minutes of the official request.
This is a far cry from the days when a single mobile unit sped across town in 1974 to transport a premature two-and-a-half pound infant within minutes from St. Francis Hospital to Wesley for emergency care.
"Being able to work with a great group of people who are sharp and on top of things makes things much easier to bear," he said. "I don't care what type of work a person is in. If you do your job well and take pride in your work and those that you work with, you are going to be successful."
work more efficiently.
These are the precious moments that separate life from death.
A relative waits for news about the condition of one of the unit's patients.