Shannon Medical Center | Health Beat | Winter 2020

Winter 2020 3 News Bringing the ER to you S hannon AirMed is now offering another way to expedite patient care in our region. In early September, AirMed made their first flight with a fixed-wing airplane. The fixed-wing plane, a King Air 90 model, is capable of flying longer distances and in more inclement weather than a helicopter.This enables Shannon to help a wider region of individuals who are in need of an air ambulance. “We are very excited to offer the fixed-wing service to our patients,” says Shannon AirMed Program Director, Stewart Jackson, RN, BSN, CMTE, LP, FP-C, NRP. “Having this plane, in addition to our AirMed1 helicopter, has allowed us to serve a much greater amount of people in a larger area.There are so many advantages to having this aircraft avail- able at Shannon.” Just like the AirMed1 helicopter, the service has all the equipment and trained staff on board to offer the same medical attention you would receive in an emergency room.The criti- cal care nurse and flight paramedic have advanced certifications in order to better serve the patients during flight. “Since there is a greater space and capacity to carry more weight, we are able to have a pi- lot, flight paramedic and critical care nurse, along with the patient and one family member,” Jackson says. “The plane is specially equipped with medical supplies and instruments such as blood, critical care monitors and IV pumps. It brings the ER straight to the patient, so they can get the help they need in the sky.” Flight paramedics and nurses provide patient care while on board the fixed-wing or heli- copter.They must also show clinical competencies and be able to care for patients in various age groups. “Fixed-wing is an air ambulance utilized to transport patients quickly to the needed next level of care,” says Thuy Cathy Murphy, RN, BSN. “As a flight nurse, our goal is to transport the patient safely and rapidly to the destination.” CARE IN ANY CONDITION During times of inclement weather, when visibility is limited and conditions are below mini- mums for AirMed1 to take flight, patients in need will now be able to be transported through our fixed wing service, AirMed2. “If necessary, we are able to use Instrument Flight Rules, as opposed to Visual Flight Rules, when operating the aircraft,” Jackson says. “This means that when vision is limited, we can rely on the special instruments and indicators in the plane to navigate safely and effi- ciently. Our fixed-wing is an additional asset that can fly when the helicopter can’t.” A great portion of the trips made by the fixed-wing will be transporting patients to other hospitals that offer specialty services, such as Seaton Medical Center in Austin, San Antonio Mil- itary Medical Center, and MercyOne Clive Acute Rehabilitation Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa. “We transported a patient recently across three states in three and a half hours to arrive at a facility,” Murphy says. “By EMS ground ambulance, this would have taken 11-plus hours. Traveling for that long would have been uncomfortable for this patient, so it felt good know- ing we are here and able to offer quicker transportation to those in need.” AirMed2 is stored at the San Angelo Regional Airport, Mathis Field and has its own, dedicated crew available 24/7, just like AirMed1. “Having this plane as an additional asset to AirMed1 is a huge help to patient care,” Jackson said. “Transporting patients over longer distances with this service is much quicker and allows the helicopter to remain available and ready to serve our local patients in a time of crisis.” Stop the Bleed training classes at Shannon When tragedy strikes and someone’s life is on the line, every second counts. Being able to control a bleeding wound from an accident can be the differ- ence between life and death. Shannon Trauma Services and AirMed are now offering one-hour, interactive Stop the Bleed training classes to anyone within our service area. Once you have been trained, you will become an American College of Surgeons Certified Instructor and will be able to teach others. While there have been many instances of mass shootings, serious bleeding is more likely to result from everyday injuries. The techniques taught in this course apply to bleeding injuries, regardless of the cause. They are easy to understand, and they show that you don’t need medical experience to save a life. The No. 1 cause of preventable death after injury is bleeding. Stop the Bleed teaches how to recog- nize life-threatening bleeding and take the proper steps to control it. Learn to react quickly When an accident happens, there’s a short window of time before blood loss can cause a person to lose consciousness. It can take less than 30 sec- onds of large-volume bleeding for a patient to get into a critical state. The quicker the bleeding is controlled, the better the patient’s chance of survival. Along with classroom instruction, every indi- vidual does a physical assessment at the end to ensure they are confident and proficient with the techniques. People often think that you need to be strong in order to do these techniques success- fully, but that’s not the case at all. Recently, there was a boating accident at a nearby lake in which someone was injured by the propeller. Thankfully, there was a trained para- medic on the boat who knew the proper steps to take and how to act quickly. A makeshift tourniquet was used to control the bleeding until police of- ficers arrived to apply a CAT-approved tourniquet and save the individual’s life. The techniques used in this incident are exactly what we are trying to educate people on by offer- ing the Stop the Bleed course. We’re here to help Effective January 2020, every school district in Texas will be required to have a bleeding control kit with trained personnel in the event of injury to another person. Shannon is providing this training to area schools as a service, and free kits are available through the Concho Valley Regional Advisory Council on Trauma and Shannon Trauma Services. We are also available to train businesses, individu- als and other organizations. For more information on upcoming class dates, email TraumaServices@ shannonhealth.org . AirMed fixed-wing service