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Tue Nov 25 18:56:23 GMT 2008

Medevac panel recommends Md. fly fewer patients

Expert panel says quality of medical care won't be reduced

By Robert Little | robert.little at baltsun.com 

12:31 PM EST, November 25, 2008 
Maryland's emergency medical system can fly fewer patients to trauma centers
by helicopter without reducing their quality of medical care, an expert
panel told state officials today.

The state likely does not need all 11 helicopters in the Maryland State
Police fleet, the panel also said.

The panel, convened in response to a Sept. 28 fatal crash, praised
Maryland's medevac system as one of the safest and most effective in the
nation but suggested numerous changes in the system's size and scope.

"We believe this will take an already great system and make it a better
system," said Dr. Robert C. MacKersie, a San Francisco trauma surgeon who
served as chairman of the panel.

Among the group's specific recommendations was that Maryland's helicopter
fleet comply with national accreditation standards, a change that would
require its helicopters to carry a second health care provider.

Four people died in the Sept. 28 crash in Prince George's County, and two
patients involved in the crash were flown based on the condition of their
wrecked vehicle, rather than apparent injuries, sparking the review of state
medevac guidelines.

The helicopter crash -- and a recording of a dispatcher telling the pilot
that Charles County ambulance drivers at the scene "never want to drive to
the hospital" -- has fueled a national debate over the appropriate use of
helicopters for trauma patients.

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