decrease in volume—for both scene and interfacility transport.” Jerry Splitt, Geisinger Medical Center’s program director,
saw the same thing about his six bases across Pennsylvania. “Our volumes were consistent—and even on the increase. Ten, suddenly a decrease. You know, they say the medical industry is recession-proof, but it’s not pandemic-proof. Reduced transports and procedures cut income.” Although some of the decrease was attributed to the halting of elective procedures, another large contributing factor was stay-at-home orders issued by local governments. Fewer people on the roads and out being active leads to fewer trauma accidents requiring air transport. Paul Schaaf, pilot for emergency medical services operator
STAT MedEvac, experienced a decrease in pediatric trans- ports for the same reasons. STAT MedEvac coordinates the operation of SkyBear, the rapid helicopter transport service of Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. “I’m attributing [the decrease] to the kids not being in
school or preschool catching the flu and other respiratory issues we used to fly them for,” Schaaf says. “Tey’re also not out in the woods or doing other activities that cause accidents, like snakebites, broken bones, etc. Parents are keeping kids close right now.”
Oddly, a sudden reduction in heart attack and stroke
patients occurred at the same time, something that was also experienced after 9/11. Tese patients picked up again about the time the number of serious COVID-19 patients needing transport began to take off. “To be perfectly honest, I don’t know what causes this phenomenon,” says Rick Rohrbach, EMS Director at Cooper University Health Care in Camden, New Jersey, about the sudden reduction in stroke and heart attack victims. “Maybe it’s because they were suddenly sitting at home on the couch. But the decrease … only lasted a few weeks.” Sure enough, a few weeks into the stay-at-home orders,
the scene changed. Typical respiratory-, heart-, and stroke- related transports began to increase right about when COVID-19 patient transports began in earnest. “We’re back to comparable volumes now, with COVID
patients making up the difference from reduced trauma accidents,” says Rohrbach.
Preparing for Battle Even before stay-at-home orders were put in place, many air ambulance operators began to prepare for the changing environment surrounding COVID-19. Te universal first priority was to initiate procedures to protect the health of
To avoid the highly contagious COVID-19 virus, air ambulance flight crews have stepped up their use of PPE.
2020 Q2 ROTOR 27
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