WKYC-TV Channel 3 News Investigation: Put-in-Bay, Ohio over-using chopper ambulance?

PUT-IN-BAY, Ohio -- During the summer, Clevelanders flock to picturesque Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island for fun, food and relaxation.

The island does not have a hospital or doctor at its disposal.

It is staffed with 14 paramedics with at least one available around the clock, year round. They are also equipped with a medical aid center and a pair of fully equipped ambulances.

But, a Channel 3 News Investigation recently found questionable uses for Life Flight from Put-in-Bay, a far more expensive service that can leave patients and insurers with unnecessarily large bills.

Reports from the past two summers show Life Flight being used for both life-threatening and nonlife-threatening cases.

The Put-in-Bay Police Department along with Ottawa County call logs show patients being flown off the island for intoxication, an anxiety attack, abdominal pain, fingers caught between two boats, allergic reaction and a thumb laceration.

"It's strictly a case-by-case basis. We make the determination by what we see, and sometimes we don't have that much choice because we don't have ferries running," Kahler said. "It's got to be pretty serious for us to call Life Flight".

Peak time for 911 calls runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Reports show Put-in-Bay EMS respond to 85 percent of their roughly 600 calls per year during this span.

"We get all different types of calls here just like any other EMS," explained Manager Keith Kahler. "There's a big myth here that we only deal with intoxicated patients, and that's simply not true."

For serious injuries and immediate care, patients can be sent on a ferry with a paramedic to a nearby medical facility or by way of an air ambulance via the Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center Life Flight/Mobile Life near Toledo.

"If we are going to transport somebody, our first choice is going to be Life Flight because we don't want to go short on staff," Kahler admitted. "Since we only have four people working here on weekends and two people during the week, we don't have the luxury of transporting somebody (via ferry) and them being gone for an hour."

Hospitals officials confirm to WKYC-TV that 14 percent of all EMS calls from Put-in-Bay end up being flown to a nearby hospital.

Health care professionals visiting the island expressed concern on the WKYC investigation's findings.

"That's silly," Cythnia Gaefke of Pittsburgh said. "I'm a nurse. Why wouldn't you just put in an urgent care and have them fixed there?"

Others focused on the money aspect of insurance premiums for the patients.

"The average Life Flight bill is $10,000," said nurse Brittany Shepherd of Willard. "You are wasting Life Flight needs to transport critical patients and giving patients a big bill for something that's unnecessary."

Mercy St. Vincent Life Flight has been in operation for 33 years and was the first medical helicopter program to serve Ohio and Michigan when it began in 1979.

"We're not a fly-by-night service that a lot of other helicopter services are," said Dr. Daniel Schwerin, medical director of Mercy St. Vincent Life Flight/Mobile Life, who oversees the unit. "I love what EMS is doing there on Put-in-Bay."

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The air ambulance chopper used by an Ohio resort town is coming under question in a WKYC television investigation.