Photo By Cynthia McIntyre | Luke Wayman, flight paramedic, is one of four flight paramedics in the four shifts...... read more read more
When a Soldier or Civilian has a medical emergency and needs to be airlifted, Mercy Air is ready. But don’t expect to see prone patients on litters strapped to the outside of the helicopter as was done in the TV show M*A*S*H.
“They pioneered air evacuation like that in the Korean War,” said flight paramedic Luke Wayman. “We don’t do it like that anymore.”
Those Korean War era Bell H-13 Sioux helicopters have been replaced by choppers that carry the patients inside where medical personnel can perform lifesaving procedures.
Maintaining a 24-hour presence with four shifts of personnel and pilots, the Fort Hunter Liggett medevac capability is backed by two helicopters. The Bell 412 can carry several patients, as long as the weight does not exceed 1,000 pounds.
“We can do anything in that helicopter that can be done in an ICU or trauma center,” said Wayman. They are also able to fly at night using night-vision goggles in the Bell 412.
Wayman works with Janis Liles, flight nurse, and a pilot during their shift. While the pilots have 12-hour long shifts, the nurses and paramedics do one 48-hour shift per week, living in a modular building just off the helipad while they are here. Wayman lives in Lake Tahoe, a six-hour drive from Fort Hunter Liggett, and Liles lives four hours away in Folsom.
If the main helicopter isn’t available, they will use the BK 117 (Lakota) which can handle two patients. “We have the same equipment in both,” said Wayman, “except for a few sensitive instruments.”
“We can switch helicopters in less than 10 minutes,” said Liles.
During busy training periods they might make up to four medevac flights a day. Many calls are for heat-related problems.
To get in the required flight time to maintain certification, the pilots fly several times a week over the hilly oak savannah and training areas that turn emerald in the winter rainy season, but are a beige-gold most of the year.
Wayman said both helicopters have stringent maintenance schedules and safety checks, and at a certain point they are completely disassembled and examined. “They look for micro-fractures and other issues,” said Wayman. Then they build it back again.
Wayman stressed, “We want to make sure we uphold the promise we made to the base to take care of the troops here.”
| Date Taken: | 01.30.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 01.30.2019 12:35 |
| Story ID: | 308796 |
| Location: | CA, US |
| Web Views: | 215 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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