GOLDEN HOUR AWARD For distinguished and outstanding service utilizing helicopters in air medical transport
Children’s Health Neonatal/Pediatric Transport Team Dallas, Texas, USA
In the early morning of Aug. 10, 2021, a vehicle carrying two adults and five unrestrained children was traveling 65 miles northeast of Dallas, Texas, when it was struck by a semi-truck. Te vehicle rolled, severely injuring all occupants and ejecting at least one of the children. First responders on the scene alerted the local community hospital of multiple casualties and five pediatric patients with
significant traumatic injuries. Unequipped for such a large patient load, especially children, the hospital’s emergency-room staff called Children’s Health Access Center to request support. Children’s Health operates 12 neonatal/pediatric- equipped ambulances, one Citation Encore jet, and one Sikorsky S-76 C++ helicopter. Children’s Health critical care nurse Brandon
Gardner, RN, was standing by at the hospital’s airbase at Dallas Love Field (KDAL) when the Access Center’s team called. Gardner, his pilots, and medical crew at the station sprang into action to devise a plan to transport all the children to Children’s Health, a Level I trauma center. It was agreed that Children’s Health would send an ambulance, helicopter, and pediatric medical specialists to help assess, treat, and transport the children to Dallas. Gardner and a paramedic immediately left in an ambulance with the intention of providing support in advance of the
Members of Children’s Health Neonatal/Pediatric Transport Team
helicopter’s arrival. Before launching, the rest of the crew—medics, respiratory therapists, and the two pilots—quickly reconfigured the helicopter to transport two patients. Gardner and the paramedic arrived on scene first and promptly
The specialized transport team at Children’s Health operates under the mission of making life better for children. On this day, as on so many others, the team truly did make life better.
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triaged, assessed, and helped stabilize the children. Two children were identified as critical enough to require helicopter transportation, and Gardner coordinated with the receiving ER physicians at Children’s Health. Te helicopter landed within 20 minutes of the ambulance’s arrival and the two most critical patients were loaded onto the aircraft. Te Children’s Health ambulance transported a third child while the
other two children were transported by local EMS services. In the end, all five children were safely and quickly transported to Children’s Health, where they eventually made full recoveries. Children’s Health, based in Dallas, Texas, is the eighth-largest pediatric health system in the United States, transporting more than 5,000 children
in 2021 alone. Te transport team attributes its success to a philosophy of maintaining a variety of highly equipped transportation vehicles. All the hospital’s ground vehicles and aircraft are equipped to support critical needs. Onboard equipment includes nitric oxide, high-frequency ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and TeleCooling and TeleTransport for NICU/PICU.
MARCH 2022 ROTOR 37
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