St. Luke`s New Helicopter Hangar: How It Works, What It Costs, How It Saves Lives
April 11--TWIN FALLS, Idaho -- The call came in at 10:29 a.m. A 72-year-old woman was in cardiac arrest.
Fourteen minutes later, a Bell 429 twin-engine helicopter carrying a nurse and a paramedic left the Air St. Luke's helipad at St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical Center.
It returned from the St. Luke's Wood River Hospital at 11:51 a.m., and medics transferred the woman to cardiac care.
An artery was opened, saving her life.
She was in St. Luke's within 86 minutes. The target transport time for such patients is 120 minutes.
"In the big picture, (10 minutes) doesn't seem huge," said Kevin Kraal, Air St. Luke's medical director.
But while 10 minutes might not save every patient's life, it will save some.
Air St. Luke's has cut 10 to 15 minutes off its air ambulance response times, thanks to the new $750,000 helicopter hangar at the hospital.
The 3,800-square-foot hangar, completed in January, was built on top of the hospital's easternmost helipad.
Both pads were to have been built at ground level, but changes in Federal Aviation Administration regulations forced the hospital to build them 13 feet above ground, Kraal said.
"This is a $500,000 pile of dirt," he said, stepping through the side door of the hangar onto the helipad. "This is engineered dirt."
Similar changes in FAA regulations are what drove Kraal to push for the hangar.
In 2009, the Federal Aviation Administration issued its "polished frost" rule, prohibiting aircraft from taking off with frost on any flight surface.
That forced Air St. Luke's to keep its aircraft in a Jerome hangar seven months out of the year. The pilots stayed in the hangar, and the medical crew stayed in an apartment about 1 1/2 miles away in conditions that were less than ideal conditions, Kraal said, such as "screaming and yelling at 2 in the morning."
When a call came in, the crew had to drive to the hangar.
But time is life for patients suffering trauma, stroke or cardiac arrest. The faster you respond, the more lives you save.
The pilots and medical crew now stay together in quarters 100 yards from the hangar.
When a call comes in, the medical team gathers supplies, equipment and patient condition information as the pilot moves the aircraft out of the hangar. The aircraft is moved in and out using a four-wheeled electric hydraulic lift made by Tiger Tugs in Bend, Ore. The lift sports custom-painted blue and white tiger stripes, per Kraal's request.
Costly but life-saving
Pilot Scott Lowe hit a button on a remote control Wednesday, raising the folding fiberglass door on the hangar's west side. He unlocked the lift from the floor and picked up the controls. With the door fully opened, he pushed a button and drove the aircraft out onto the helipad at a walking pace.
"It will go about 4 mph," Kraal said.
The Bell 429 twin-engine helicopter cost $5.5 million. The hospital owns two.
"It's the latest and greatest," Kraal called it.
The helicopter has room for a pilot, one flight paramedic, one flight nurse and two patients, with room enough to work.
"It costs about $20 in fuel just to start it," pilot Lowe said.
And it takes even more to keep it in the air.
"When this thing is up in the air, there's $20 bills flying out of the tailpipe," Kraal quipped.
How many of those Jacksons are billed to the patient?
A recent 14-mile trip to Buhl and back cost $16,000, said flight nurse Chris Duggan. "And that was a pretty simple patient."
When the crew isn't flying, it's charting patient conditions, fulfilling online and hands-on educational requirements, attending meetings on patient care and restocking supplies.
"It's actually kind of a busy schedule," Lowe said.
He and three other pilots monitor weather and visibility constantly through their shifts. When a call comes in, it's the pilot's job to determine whether to fly.
"There is a sense of urgency," Lowe said, "but (as a pilot) you can't respond to that."
The aircraft can fly in wind speeds up to 30 knots in the mountains and 40 knots in the plains. Daytime visibility must be at 800 vertical feet and 3 miles ahead. At night, his ceiling of visibility is 1,000 feet.
The helicopter flies at about 2.5 miles per minute, Lowe said. "We can see about a minute ahead of us."
"It's so fast," Kraal added.
The pilots fly for St. Luke's but are employed by Idaho Helicopters of Boise. They work seven 12 -hour shifts, then take a week off.
Mechanics come from Boise two to three times a week for routine copter inspections. They inspect every inch of the craft annually.
The flight medics work a combination of 12- and 24-hour shifts.
Kraal said he presented a simple but passionate proposal for the hangar to the St. Luke's Magic Valley Health Foundation in the fall of 2012.
"For $1,000, you can buy 2 seconds," he told the foundation.
The foundation committed to raise $500,000 toward the hangar's cost, and the St. Luke's Idaho Health System paid the rest.
Fundraising began with the Festival of Trees Gala and the Epicurean Evening. Money also was funneled in from the hospital's Employee Giving Campaign and from outside contributions. The Maurice A. Bowers Foundation donated $20,000. Glanbia matched it. Idaho Central Credit Union recently added another $25,000 to the pile.
The foundation has about $75,000 left to raise, said Alice Elwood, major gifts officer.
Copyright 2014 - The Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho
