January 8, 2009
Sun coverage: State medevac system woes
Wreckage from the medevac helicopter that crashed and killed four people over the weekend at Walter Mill Regional Park in District Heights, Md. (AP photo / September 29, 2008)
Md. Cabinet post urged for medevac oversight
Maryland should create a Cabinet-level department to oversee emergency services and consider allowing a private company to run the state's helicopter transport fleet, say two lawmakers who pledged yesterday to spearhead reform during the legislative session that begins next month.
Medevac use down notably in state since fatal crash
The number of Maryland medevac transports has dropped significantly since new protocols were put in place after a fatal crash, causing lawmakers to question yesterday how many helicopters are needed to replace the state's aging fleet.
Officials: Medevac crews hesitant since crash
State emergency medical officials said yesterday that some ambulance crews in Maryland are "skittish" since a fatal medevac helicopter crash in September and might be too reluctant to transport accident victims to the hospital by air.
Survivor recounts medevac crash that killed 4
Jordan Wells remembers losing control of her car on a rainy night in late September. She remembers being loaded onto a Maryland State Police helicopter along with the passenger of her car, and she recalls the sound of it clipping tree branches.
Copter pilot had sought radar help
The pilot of the medevac helicopter that crashed in Prince George's County last month asked an air traffic controller for turn-by-turn landing instructions before he went down, but the controller couldn't provide such directions because she was not trained to use the base's precision radar equipment, according to a preliminary federal report released yesterday.
Unnecessary flight risks?
The medical helicopter crash in Prince George's County that killed four people last month was one of more than a dozen fatal crashes nationally during the past six years that raise doubts about whether the victims ever needed to leave the ground.
Maryland to revise medevac guidelines
In a move that could reduce the number of medevac flights in Maryland, state emergency medical officials announced yesterday that ambulance teams will be required to consult with doctors before deciding whether flying some accident victims to a trauma center is better than driving them to a local hospital.
Advantages of medevac transport challenged
Even as emergency medical officials in Maryland consider stricter criteria for flying patients, in the wake of last weekend's fatal medevac helicopter crash in Prince George's County, some trauma specialists think they should be exploring a more fundamental question:
Copter crash raises doubt
The two young women whose car crash in Charles County prompted a medevac flight that turned fatal early Sunday had only bruises and pain after the auto accident but no apparent injuries so severe they indicated need for a helicopter transport to a trauma center, officials said yesterday.
Criteria for transport to trauma center
Maryland emergency workers use these guidelines to determine whether a patient needs to be taken to a trauma center rather than a local hospital emergency room. If a trauma center is more than 30 minutes away by ambulance, the patient is transported by medevac helicopter. The fatal medevac trip this weekend was judged warranted based on the intrusion of an object into the car, not the injuries of the patients.
State police defend the 12-copter medevac fleet
State police officials tried yesterday to reassure critics in the General Assembly that Maryland's emergency medical transport system was in capable hands despite a recent audit detailing numerous maintenance and management deficiencies at the police-run helicopter fleet.
Medevac copters' usage curtailed, legislators told
Maryland's medevac program this year implemented changes designed to reduce unnecessary use of state police helicopters, a senior official told lawmakers in Annapolis this morning.
Spotlight on state Medevac system
Almost half of the patients flown by helicopter to Maryland trauma centers are released within 24 hours, making some lawmakers wonder whether the state's vaunted Medevac system is overused.
Audit seen as threat to medevac overhaul
A sharply critical legislative audit of the state's medevac operation could jeopardize the General Assembly's willingness to spend more than $100 million on overhauling the state police unit's aging 12-helicopter fleet, a key lawmaker said yesterday.
 2008 Year in ReviewA look back at the news, sports and entertainment stories that shaped 2008, including a city teacher's attack posted on the Internet. The Baltimore Sun photos of 2008 Archived coverage: Death of Kenneth N. Harris Sr. | Medevac crash Student slain at school | Fatal Bel Air Bypass crash  A roundup of crimes reported in Baltimore City and Baltimore County |
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