— from Stan Wagner —
My wife and I live on Waldron Island, and for years we have had a subscription to Airlift Northwest as have most Waldron residents. Airlift has always served Waldron well, and, there has never been a medical emergency on the Island that Airlift could not come to the rescue. That service is now endangered by policies of the air medical dispatch system, operated by San Juan EMS and is illustrated by my medical evacuation experience.
On April 11, 2012 a table saw, kickback resulted in severe injuries to my right eye . A short time later, my wife found me bloodied and barely conscious.. She immediately called the Sherriff’s dispatch line to request emergency help, emphasizing the severity of my injury.
The emergency team that showed up on Waldron was from San Juan EMS, flying on Island Air’s medevac plane. The EMS team was brought to our house, and after looking at my wound, contacted Dr. Michael Sullivan for further instructions. Once sedated, I was loaded on to the San Juan EMS/Island Air Ambulance plane and taken to Bellingham’s St. Joseph’s Hospital. There, after a further assessment, doctors determined that they were neither equipped nor staffed to provide the treatment I needed, and they sent me via Airlift’s fixed wing plane to Harborview Hospital, our regional trauma center.
I reached the Harborview emergency room around 7:30 pm, some 5 1/2 hours after being evacuated from Waldron, a disastrous delay if there had been a chance to save my eye. Since, in all likelihood, I would have been transported directly to Harborview had Airlift Northwest come to my aid initially, I asked Airlift why they did not respond and was told they did not receive call-out at the time of my accident, but, yes, Airlift did have aircraft ready to fly to Waldron that day.
Airlift Northwest depends on making a certain number emergency flights to San Juan County to make it economically viable to continue serving the Islands from Bellingham. However, San Juan EMS a taxpayer-funded part of the San Juan Hospital District and their “partner” Island Air Ambulance Inc. are now attempting to get as many calls as they can, reducing substantially the calls to Airlift from San Juan County putting future service at risk.
The problem for Airlift is that San Juan EMS, now a direct competitor, runs the emergency medical dispatch service.
I believe that San Juan EMS should be removed from the dispatch function to remove any conflict of interest. The County Medical Director and the Medical Director of San Juan EMS and Island Air Ambulance should be a different person. The protocol for the new Medical dispatch should be set so that Airlift is the first responder to any medical emergency and only if they are not available should San Juan EMS\Island Air Ambulance be dispatched. This would protect us all with the assurance that Airlift would be the primary provider and would not lose further flights.
The County needs someone to step up to deal with this problem, and it has to be at the County or State level because the San Juan Hospital District does not speak for all Islanders.
All of us, including those living on San Juan Island, are at greater medical risk if Airlift Northwest’s services to the islands are curtailed, and we all should be working to ensure that does not happen.
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I am and have been a member of Airlift Northwest since its inception. Orcas Senior Center has provided comprehensive LIFE FORM
data sheets and packets which contain a persons medical status, prescription data, and personal information. I have taped mine to the front of my refrigerator. On it,in large red letters, I have noted, “AIRLIFT NORTHWEST ONLY!” for EMS personnel. Also, their chopper can legally land in authorized private fields. One is very close and I do not have to be transported to Eastsound airport.
Thank you for raising this worrying issue! It seems that short of becoming a member of both services, (prohibitive expense for many families) there is quite a lot of uncertainty about being covered. So far I’ve seen no evidence of cooperation between the two services, which would give one some reassurance.
Who will take on this dilemma?
San Juan EMS and Island air fixed winged plane are attempting to highjack Airlift Northwest business, and the result is putting island residents other that San Juan island at greater risk and/or expense.
Property taxes on the island of San Juan wrap emergency transport into their residents package, which allows their residence to be covered, regardless of which flights service is used, unlike the rest of the islands. As I understand it, this difference is what has ultimately created the competitive fixed-wing service. To make it pencil, they have created a struggle for business on the rest of the islands.
A fixed wing plane is inferior transport, as it has to land at the airport (rather than direct at the hospital) and involves more precious time and added expense of a second ambulance ride.
Protocol for emergency services dictates who will fly you off, with no consideration for who’s services you have paid for. Unfortunately, a sign on your refrigerator will not guarantee that the insurance you have paid for will be used. I resent being told that we should all now pay for both services… it is the worst kind of coercion, and frankly appears immoral, if not illegal. These folks should be ashamed of themselves.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” We are very satisfied with our current setup with Airlift NW, thank you very much. We have also been members since their inception. Why should we be coerced to use another service? I trust and rely on services of Airlift NW, and don’t want to use another service.