While flying to Macon the other night, I called Atlanta Approach and requested flight following. After a few minutes of quiet on the radio, the controller asked if I had time for a question.
"Yes sir, go ahead."
"What exactly is it that you all do?"
"Well, tonight we are transporting a sick young patient from a small hospital to a large one where he can be taken care of by specialists. We also land at accident scenes and pick up trauma victims, from things like car crashes. Finally we transport little premature babies, as early as 24 weeks and less than two pounds."
"Over."
A few seconds of silence...
"Thank you for what you do."
I reply, "Thank You sir. We could not do this without you."
Click here to watch a short video of a day (and night) in the life of a HEMS crew
That video made me miss flying the Penn State blue and white Dauphin. She was a screamer, and her wheels went up.
Why do this?
Mark Twain said "there are lies, damn lies, and statistics," but it's nice to have some validation of what we do. Dr. Brian Bledsoe, this one's for you...
Click here to read a report on the effectiveness and benefit of HEMS transports
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