Arrangement Will Provide Better Clinical Integration Of Medical Transportation

A long-time partnership between Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in Greenville, SC and Med-Trans Corp. has a new face and address – as well as a 2,700-pound royal blue helicopter. GHS has worked with Med-Trans for 10 years, but now has partnered to locate GHS Med Trans, a dedicated helicopter, at GHS’ flagship Greenville Memorial Hospital. Both organizations say having the helicopter and crew physically based at Greenville Memorial paves the way for tighter clinical integration, training and teamwork led by GHS board-certified physicians.

The Royal-Blue Helicopter

“As a tertiary medical center, it’s our responsibility to provide care for the area’s most critically ill and injured patients,” said GHS President and CEO Michael Riordan. “This enhanced partnership will not only help patients get care faster but will make sure the care received en route is the best it can be.”

The service will be particularly critical in the care of heart attack, stroke and trauma patients. GHS has one of the nation’s best treatment times for heart-attack patients, and Greenville Memorial Hospital is ranked among the nation’s top 50 hospitals in heart care and heart surgeries in U.S. News’ America’s Best Hospitals. The dedicated helicopter will also be a lifesaver for children en route to the regional pediatric intensive care unit at GHS Children’s Hospital. Air travel cuts transit time by more than two-thirds, turning a 40-minute drive into a 12-minute flight.

The Bell 407 helicopter’s flight crew includes a pilot, flight paramedic and critical-care flight nurse. The crew and helicopter can be en route to an emergency within 3½ minutes of the initial call. The helicopter service area will typically be a 100-mile radius, but it can accept service requests for as far as 200 miles.

“GHS Med Trans will be a tremendous regional asset, providing indispensable critical care to patients in need when time is of the essence,” said Med-Trans Corp. CEO Fred Buttrell. “GHS Med Trans will focus on excellent patient care, working with GHS to provide cohesive clinical integration.”

GHS Med Trans will also work closely with GHS’ 10 Mobile Care ambulances, which carry equipment similar to the helicopter’s critical care equipment.  Mobile Care ambulances transport approximately 15,000 patients annually and are rated for advanced life-support care. Community hospitals and their patients will be some of the biggest beneficiaries of the new program.

“We provide excellent care here, but there are times when patients need the services that only a Level 1 trauma center can provide,” said Oconee Medical Center President and CEO Jeanne Ward. “We’re already exploring more ways we can leverage the unique resources of a tertiary care center to help our own patients.”

Med-Trans also has partnerships with Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System and AnMed Health. Because of their proximity and close working relationships, the three hospitals will be able to back up each other in the event that their primary helicopters are already on a call, Buttrell said. The GHS Med Trans helicopter features the latest integrated computerized visual-flight-rules display. The display provides enhanced situational awareness for the pilot and includes a terrain-avoidance warning system, satellite weather display and a traffic avoidance system that shows other aircraft in the area.

FMI: www.ghs.org