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Mon Nov 24 17:12:10 GMT 2008

Interesting review process.     I hope and trust that  the panel was not 
overly "packed" with only one side of this  issue.     I do know that I was not 
consulted or even  contacted by the panel, and that is OK.   I have had concerns 
about  standards of inclusion as to just who should and should not be flown 
and under  what circumstances.      I do hope that all sides of  this issue are 
put out into the open.    This is a real  opportunity for some real 
leadership.       

Kenneth L, Mattox

In a message dated 11/24/2008 11:06:06 A.M. Central Standard Time,  
stephen.richey at gmail.com writes:

After  reading the latest in the great series of articles on the subject of
the  Maryland helicopter fiasco by Robert Little of the Baltimore Sun, I  have
just one question:  If a lawyer can be disbarred for lying in the  course of
an investigation, why can't doctors be held to a similar  standard?  If you
blatantly disregard the evidence and continue to try  to cover your butt,
that is the same thing as perjury (minus the "under  oath" part), is it  not?

================
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-medevac1124,0,6552349.story

Some  Md. ambulance crews 'skittish,' official says Panel to offer  state
recommendations in wake of Sept. copter crash that killed 4 By Robert  Little
| robert.little at baltsun.com |Baltimore Sun reporter11:13 AM EST,  November
24, 2008 State emergency medical officials say some ambulance  crews in
Maryland are "skittish" since the September medevac helicopter  crash and
might have become too reluctant to transport accident victims to  the
hospital by air.

*Dr. Douglas J. Floccare, aeromedical director  of the state's emergency
medical system, told a panel of experts today that  crews are now using
ground ambulances for some patients who would benefit  from helicopter
transport.

"I'm concerned right now that there are  some patients that should be flown
to trauma centers that are not," he  said. "There's some skittishness out
there."*

State emergency  medical officials convened the panel, made up of seven
trauma and emergency  medicine specialists from around the country, in
response to the Sept. 28  medevac helicopter crash that killed four people.
The doomed flight had  been called to Waldorf to pick up two automobile
accident victims, neither  with apparent injuries but both selected to fly
based on a Maryland  guideline instructing medics to consider the condition
of an accident  victim's vehicle when making triage decisions.

The helicopter crash --  and a recording of a dispatcher telling the pilot
that ambulance drivers in  Waldorf "never want to drive to the hospital" --
has fueled a debate over  the appropriate use of helicopters to transport
trauma patients. One member  of the panel, Nevada physician Bryan Bledsoe,
has published studies in  medical journals that raise doubts about whether
helicopter transport gets  patients to a hospital faster and saves more lives
than ground  ambulances.

After deliberations later today, the panel is scheduled to  issue a
recommendation to state officials tomorrow at 11 a.m.

The  Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems has already
made  one change in the state's triage process in response to the crash,
telling  ambulance crews to consult with a hospital before calling a
helicopter for  patients without obvious injuries.

-- 
Stephen L. Richey,  CRT
Aviation Injury Research Project Leader
Saginaw Valley State  University
Work E-mail: slrichey at svsu.edu
Home Office Phone:  248-366-4452

"Hier stehe ich. Ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir.  Amen."- Martin
Luther, before the Diet of Worms, 16. April  1521
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