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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Transportation to th ER
-Boston MedFlight (BMF) is a CAMTS accredited Critical Care Transport service- 3 helicopters,
- Fixed wing aircraft
- 2 critical care ground vehicles.
-BMF's mission is to extend the tertiary care services of the major Boston hospitals to the citizens of Massachusetts and New England, 24/7
-Non profit organization, BMF transports patients regardless of their ability to pay.
-MedFlight is financially supported in part by a consortium of Boston hospitals including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Children's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Tufts New England Medical Center.
-Established 1985
How does BMF decide which vehicle is most appropriate on interfacility transport requests?
Decision
Most appropriate vehicle to the requested hospital based on safe and efficient transportation.
Normally decided by Communications Specialists in conjunction with the BMF Medical Crew.
BMF online Medical Control is available to discuss vehicle selection with referring/receiving physicians and BMF staff.
Mission completion
1. Safety
If the helicopter is requested, the pilot must accept/reject the mission.
If helicopter transport cannot be completed safely, BMF will offer the hospital BMF's ground critical care unit or fixed wing jet service, if appropriate and available. Advantages = same crew configuration and same medical equipment.
Disadvantage = longer wait time on the part of the sending facility.
2. Patient Condition
If the patient is in need of emergent services unavailable at the sending facility, such as a cardiac catheterization lab or an operating room, BMF will triage the request to the helicopter flight team.
If the patient requires nonemergent transport, such as transport to a hospital for elective procedures, and is being maintained on therapies beyond the scope of ALS providers, BMF will triage this request to the ground critical care unit or fixed wing jet, if available and appropriate. This allows for appropriate utilization of resources by enabling the helicopter to be available for time sensitive requests.
3. Location
Long distance transfer outside of helicopter range will be triaged to fixed wing jet services.
Capable of traveling 1400 miles without refueling
Less affected by weather considerations.
In instances where travel is required outside of the immediate Boston area, fixed wing jet services provide expedited and economical transport between facilities.
Anonymous at 8:41 AM