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Stephanie Porter-Nichols/Pilot Michael Benton secures the door to the Bell helicopter with the help of a flight nurse as visitors begin checking out the rescue unit.

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Flying to the rescue: Wings emphasizes community roles

Editor’s note: Most of the time, we don’t write news articles in the first person. However, on some occasions, when our observations are central to the story, the style can be more accurate and insightful than traditional formats. In this case, that seemed especially true.

By STEPHANIE PORTER-NICHOLS/Staff

Completely immobilized, the helicopter’s rotors whipping through the air were all that I could see. The smell of the aircraft’s fuel filled my nostrils. The noise from the air-rescue vehicle limited any chance of hearing conversation. However, a hand on my shoulder reassured me as the backboard was maneuvered into the almost-claustrophobic patient transport space.
I knew Michael Benton, a pilot with 15 years of military experience, sat at the controls to my front. I couldn’t see him or the flight paramedic or the flight nurse behind me. Again, a hand rested briefly on my shoulder just as one had in the Marion Life Saving ambulance en route to the Wings Air Rescue transport site on a hilltop near Smyth County Community Hospital.
With my neck braced, head strapped down and body restrained in a manner that would prevent further injury had I been a real trauma victim, control of the situation rested completely in the hands of those who daily answer calls for help.
Having never been transported by ground or air rescue units, the entire experience was new and was altered by my foreknowledge and the voluntary nature of my role.
Rescue workers had invited a reporter to experience the land and air transport to gain the patient perspective and help convey emergency workers’ community roles. Though I was neither critically ill nor injured, the medical personnel never dispensed of their care-giving roles, asking if I was nauseous or stressed. Their commitment to the exercise and to my well-being spoke to me of their dedication.
The Wings crew, who are part of the Mountain State Health Alliance team and respond to calls within 125 nautical miles of their base, including Smyth, Wythe and Washington counties, described how they try to comfort patients before flights. They tell them where they will be taken, how long the flight will be, flying conditions and how to communicate with them.
On Wednesday morning, as the Bell 407 helicopter, which typically travels at about 140 knots, or 161.3 mph, lifted above Marion, I listened as the pilot and medical team worked as one watching for obstacles in their flight path.
“Safety is paramount,” said Thad Moore, a Wings paramedic and volunteer with the Marion rescue squad. Assessing weather and other flight issues, he said, is a complicated decision process. “Everybody has to be on board. It’s a 100 percent team decision,” he said.
He noted that each Wings’ flight typically includes three personnel—the pilot and a nurse and medic. Though the fit would be tight, the space exists for a fourth passenger in addition to the patient.
Within limits, Moore said, the Wings crew will fly in rain and often responds to night calls. The aeromedical service equips all of its crew members with night-vision binoculars. Without the specialized binoculars, Moore noted that an individual with 20/20 vision in daylight only sees at about 20/200 at night.
The Wings operation at SCCH began Dec. 30, 2007, with a team that includes five nurses, four paramedics and four pilots. According to the crew members, they typically work 36-hour weeks, in 12- and 24-hour shifts.
In September, 62 requests for air rescue came into the Marion-based operation. According to Moore, about half of the calls are for critically ill hospital patients, while the other 50 percent are to on-scene calls, such as interstate wrecks.
According to crew members, one of the biggest challenges of the work is the quick transition necessary for response. One minute they can be engrossed in paperwork and in the next can be on their way to an emergency.
Pilot Benton estimated their response time from the pager going off to being in the air at about 10 minutes. Often if a rescue squad is en route to a potentially serious call, its members will ask Wings to be on standby, which enhances the response time.
Local emergency responders work closely with Wings, said Mary Ketron, a flight nurse. “We become part of their team,” said Ketron.
The crew is ready to help work with rescue, fire and police responders on training and community events. They encouraged anyone interested to call their flight operations office at 1-800-WINGS-01.
“We’re always willing to go out,” said Ketron.
Moore added, “We’re part of the community.”
On Wednesday, the Wings crew was heading to a six-hour blood drive at the Marion Wal-Mart held in conjunction with the Johnston Memorial Hospital Blood Bank, which supplies SCCH. The Wings helicopter, a Marion fire truck and ambulance, and local and state police were on hand to help enhance community awareness of local EMS work and to attract people to the blood drive.
With 35 units collected, Ketron called the drive a success. The flight nurse said Wings and the blood bank are planning to hold similar drives and community awareness events every couple of months.