GETTYSBURG – A common sound heard day or night is that low, thunderous tone of an approaching medical helicopter. Medevacs play a crucial role in our regional health care system providing more than just accident scene patient care.
“We can provide critical care to a patient in this helicopter just like staff can do in a hospital”, said Flight Nurse Melanie Lewis of WellSpan WellFlight medevac program. WellSpan WellFlight was established in 2020 and operates from Gettysburg and Lebanon, Pennsylvania, through a collaboration between Air Methods and WellSpan Health, an integrated health system serving central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland.
Operating continuously around the clock, WellFlight provides emergency air medical transport with experienced pilots and a skilled team of flight nurses and paramedics. Each helicopter carries whole blood and is equipped for critical care and specialized pediatric transport. WellFlight Gettysburg exclusively supports the WellSpan Neonatal teams.
WellFlight is staffed by a pilot, flight nurse and a flight paramedic. Pilots have more than 2,000 flight hours in either a civilian/commercial or military role prior to joining Air Methods.
Flight nurses and flight paramedics have at least three years of experience in high volume, acute patient care settings. In addition, several certifications are required to render care to newborns, children and adults. Flight nurses often begin their careers as critical care or emergency room nurses. Flight paramedics often work for several years with EMS ground units operated by fire departments or healthcare systems.
“Pairing a nurse with a paramedic combines the nurse’s critical care expertise with the paramedic’s pre-hospital care skills,” said Ron Brown, northeast region sales executive at Air Methods.
Whole blood administration is the “gold standard” for trauma care. O type blood is used as it is the “universal donor” allowing patients of different blood types to safely use this blood. Whole blood provides red blood cells for oxygen, platelets for clotting and plasma to treat shock. In addition to accident scene victim care and transport, WellFlight also provides critical care transport between hospitals.
“Small rural hospitals cannot provide advanced levels of care for all patients, so the medevac like WellFlight can transport a critically ill patient of any age to an advanced care facility quickly,” said Brown. Air Methods is the largest aeromedical transport company in the U.S. This company provides the helicopter and crews for hospital medevac programs.
Just like a hospital critical care unit, WellFlight has advanced care equipment such as a ventilator, defibrillator and medications to manage critical or severely injured patients in flight. Neonatal isolettes and other technology allow WellSpan WellFlight to provide critical care for premature infants. The EC-135 helicopter built by Eurocopter/Airbus is not only a very reliable aircraft, but replacement parts are readily available, said Brown.
In September, WellSpan WellFlight will be celebrating its fifth anniversary as an aeromedical flight program. WellSpan Health has more than 23,000 employees operating nine hospitals in south-central Pennsylvania including over 250 outpatient care centers in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
