Friday, September 02, 2011

CALSTAR Offering Air Ambulance Service

Bethany Crouch FOX40 News
10:09 p.m. PDT, September 1, 2011

ROSEVILLE— Most People have heard of CALSTAR (California Shock Trauma Air Rescue). Maybe you've even seen the air ambulances overhead, flying to an accident scene. But you'd never imagine yourself or a loved one needing a flight in one of those choppers, that's until, the unthinkable happens.

On the day CALSTAR pilot Glenn Galbraith took me up in the helicopter for a flight out of their Auburn base, the concept of the golden hour became very clear to me.

As we took a ten minute flight to Sutter Roseville Medical Center, we shaved more than an hour off our would-be traffic drive time.

"So you can see how the speed of the helicopter really makes a difference in patient care," Galbraith says to me.

When it comes to trauma, moments matter. CALSTAR patient Austin Brightwell learned that lesson in 2005.

"Without the helicopter, I probably would have just faded out. I like to think of [CALSTAR] more as a savior than anything," Brightwell said.

Brightwell was on a camping trip with friends in the Tahoe National Forest. He and a buddy went for a drive when one of his friends took a turn too sharply and the boys, along with Austin's then girlfriend, plummeted nose first off a cliff.

Brightwell describes reaching for the steering wheel as the truck began rolling. He threw his body over his girlfriend, who was seated between the two boys, to keep her from going through the windshield. In doing that, his body launched through the open window.

"The truck rolled and took me with it. Then it landed on top of me, and crushed my whole head and my upper torso," said Brightwell.

Near death, Brightwell’s friends took 45 minutes to pry the truck off of him and move him to a spot where CALSTAR could land.

"I actually died on the helicopter three times but they were able to resuscitate me and bring me back to life by administering adrenaline into my heart," said Brightwell.

The non-profit air ambulance operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

There are two critical care nurses on each flight.

CALSTAR Director Tom Pandola says that much support is essential for patient survival.

"They start doing emergency room level care or intensive care unit level care in the back of the helicopter as soon as they get a hold of the patient," said Pandola.

That care, coupled with a fast flight, saves thousands of people like Austin Brightwell each year, but not without a cost. Pandola says one flight runs in the tens of thousands of dollars. That's where CALSTAR'S membership program comes in.

For $45 a year, you can cover yourself, your family and everyone else living in your household. Pandola says it's not insurance, but it acts like it.

"So if we have the many paying into the program, the few that actually need it, it makes sure the program is here, and helps us raise the money we need," said Pandola.

Because CALSTAR is non-profit, they get no government support. They only have three ways to raise money: charging for a flight, donations, and the membership program. Pandola says many people can't pay those huge bills after a tragedy. The CALSTAR membership program helps to insure the program can keep flying.

"You don't think about CALSTAR being available until it's a life or death situation," Pandola tells FOX40.

With bases in Northern and Central California and throughout the West Coast, CALSTAR establishes bases in what they call underserved communities where people travel and recreate like Auburn and South Lake Tahoe.

Last year, CALSTAR teams throughout the West Coast transported 3,000 patients. The non-profit prides itself on crew safety and patient care.

They will never turn away someone who can't pay. Pandola says they’ll take all that money from the membership and put it back into the community program.

As for Brightwell, he hasn't met the crew that saved his life, but he has a message for them.

"I'd probably give them a big kiss and a big hug. Tell them thank you."

Original article and video:  http://www.fox40.com

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