The new trauma center at Mary Washington Hospital is likely to mean changes for two medical-helicopter companies in the Fredericksburg area.

Demand for helicopter services to and from Mary Washington Hospital are likely to change when its new trauma center opens and new hospitals open in the area

Date published: 4/18/2008

BY CATHY JETT

Business is about to change for the two medical-helicopter companies serving the Fredericksburg area.

AirCare and LifeEvac initially may not get as many calls to fly the critically injured from accident scenes to such places as Inova Fairfax Hospital if patients can be rushed by ambulance to MWH instead.

But flights to Mary Washington from rural areas and smaller, surrounding hospitals will likely increase, partly because having a trauma center typically helps quicken a hospital's response time to such time-sensitive health emergencies as a heart attack or stroke.

"The response time for heart attacks and emergency surgery is excellent at Mary Washington, but the volume and frequency of needing those services [after the trauma center opens] will make the system work more smoothly and fluidly for everybody," said Dr. Lawrence Roberts, medical director of MWH's trauma center.

He also said that helicopters will continue to be the best mode of transportation from accident scenes when ambulances would be slowed down by heavy traffic, and for people in rural areas that are a long way from the hospital.

"For speed in getting a patient to hospitals with a modern trauma center, helicopters are almost a necessity now," Roberts said.

Currently, AirCare, which is stationed at Shannon Airport in Spotsylvania County, and Stafford Regional Airport-based LifeEvac mainly land at MWH to pick up patients who need specialized care at other hospitals. A good example would be babies who need pediatric intensive care.

"We don't have pediatric intensive care at Mary Washington, and we're not planning to become a pediatric trauma center," Roberts said. "Across the country, it's been determined that these cases are best managed at children's hospitals with trauma centers."

MWH anticipates that there will be enough helicopter traffic after the trauma center opens to merit a second landing site to complement the one on the top floor of its parking deck. The additional site would be on the ground, which can accommodate heavier helicopters such as those used by the military.

"It's always good to have a second site," said Christina J. Skinner, the Rappahannock Emergency Medical Services Council director. "We've already started planning for the Boy Scout Jamboree in 2010, and we usually use the military's medevac helicopter for that event. It may not be able to land on the hospital's parking deck."

Date published: 4/18/2008