“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else,” once said Booker T. Washington. And ironically, it is in Washington State where the med- ical services provided by leading healthcare organizations have been elevated to such a degree as to deploy a unit which not only urgently benefits lives, but lifts-up lives, in situations when it matters most.

2 | Airlift Northwest Late last year, Author Richard Bach (whose port. In the crash that followed, he endured literary works include such best sellers as Il- severe injuries to his head, chest and spine. lusions and the internationally acclaimed The prognosis for Bach, as well as his family, Jonathon Livingston Seagull) took off from not to mention countless fans, seemed par- his home in Washington’s San Juan Islands ticularly grim. As any physician will affirm, to visit a friend on the mainland. On this oc- there is a “” which refers to a casion, like many times before, Bach piloted timeframe following the instance of trauma. an amphibious, single-engine Easton Gilbert An outcome of life or death is quite often Searey. An accomplished pilot who has spent determined by a patient’s ability to rapidly years flying as his readers well-know, on this receive treatment. In Bach’s case, in only a day, Bach inadvertently clipped power lines matter of minutes, help arrived in the form as he prepared to land at Friday Harbor Air- of RNs affiliated with Airlift Northwest.

Airlift Northwest | 3 They immediately tended to his injuries, se- with a new edition of Jonathon Livingston cured him for flight and after taking-off in Seagull. their helicopter, touched-down minutes lat- Brenda Nelson, Chief Flight Nurse for er at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Airlift Northwest, confesses that no one There would be coma and complications knew who Richard Bach was when respond- arising from respiratory failure, but doctors ers were deployed to the , feverishly addressed all urgencies, and Bach and that’s understandable since this team ultimately survived. He has since credited doesn’t focus on saving personalities, but Airlift Northwest for saving his life and the saving people. Over the thirty years of it op- near-death experience has prompted his re- eration, Airlift Northwest has beneficially writing of a new passage to be published impacted many lives, not only in Washing-

4 | Airlift Northwest Airlift Northwest | 5 Since 1923, American Medical Response Ambulance (AMR) has provided crucial, life-saving services from the Pugent Sound region to most of Washington State in its role as a vital partner to many fire departments, hospitals, nursing homes and air ambulance companies throughout the state. AMR provides , Advanced Life Support and Nurse level medical services, all dispatched from a state-of-the-art, accredited communications center in Seattle that manages more than 125,000 transports annually. In engaging a fleet of 80 ambulances on a daily basis, AMR also deploys services from more than 600 professional personnel fully trained to provide high-quality care in any situation - from critical life threatening injury and illness to non-emergency transportation from the hospital to home.

AMR is proud to be a partner with Airlift Northwest; and both of these medical transport companies collaborate to effectively respond to patients with critical injuries. For AMR, clinical excellence involves ton, but Alaska, Idaho and Montana too. having the tools, knowledge, judgment, skills and passion to perform at the highest level; a philosophy Nelson has amassed a number of accounts that mandates caregivers excel in education and which speak to the capabilities and critical training that not only meets, but in many cases, exceeds industry standards. A robust quality functions fulfilled by this leading medical assurance program further ensures that all patient air-transport service. From saving the life of encounters meet the rigorous clinical and customer service standards embraced by AMR. Whether a baby born premature to saving victims of through its responding to 9-1-1 emergencies, its strokes and heart attacks, Nelson even im- providing of on-site emergency care at sporting events or the non-emergency transportation parts a story about a young man who had solutions for skilled nursing care and more, AMR’s capabilities to serve a diverse range of customers a genetic heart defect and collapsed while contribute to its continuing legacy as a national hiking in the Washington wilderness. The leader in the medical transport industry. remoteness of the area made it a challenge for medical responders, but Airlift North- west landed their helicopter and took turns administering CPR in conjunction with friends and rural ems providers with hope to 6 | Airlift Northwest establish a functional heart rhythm before TRANSITING FROM transporting the man to hospital. Two nurs- TRAGEDY es took turns maintaining CPR, each work- Tragically, medical transports services like ing in durations of two minutes, establishing Northwest Airlift weren’t so accessible in and airway and administering medications the years prior to the company’s launch in and in one of the rarest and most remarkable 1982. That fact became too painfully clear of medical feats, the man’s heart function following a house fire which occurred in ru- returned after 86 minutes of intense effort. ral Alaska. At the time, a neurologist named “That has become a story we talk about a lot, Dr. Michael Copass was conducting a train- involving a super nice kid who is doing well ing exercise in Alaska when he learned three today, but stories like that keep us mindful children had been severely burned in the fire. of our mission ... we want to give people a The injuries demanded that these children greater opportunity to have life, to experi- needed immediate transport to a facility ence life, and we’re thankful to work for a with the resources to provide critical treat- service which provides that,” says Nelson. ment, but unfortunately, such transport Airlift Northwest | 7 couldn’t be found. Two children died before Center, the UW School of Medicine, and a transport was secured, and so much time has network neighborhood clinic and physician passed before help was secured, the third practices. With more than 25,000 employees, child died during transport to the hospital. this enterprise has produced five Nobel Prize “It was at that time, Dr. Copass vowed that winners, 35 Institute of Medicine members such a tragedy should never happen again,” and more than 30 members of the National says Nelson. Dr. Copass ultimately founded Academy of Science. Collectively, the con- Airlift Northwest by forming an alliance sortium facilitates some 65,000 admissions with a hospital consortium affiliated with and 1.6 million outpatient and emergency UW Medicine, an internationally esteemed room visits annually. In addition to provid- leader in healthcare which owns (or operates) ing patients with the most advanced or latest Harborview Medical Center, Northwest findings in medical discovery, diagnoses and Hospital & Medical Center, Valley Medical treatments, its physicians also undertake the Center, University of Washington Medical research necessary to teach new generations

8 | Airlift Northwest of medical professionals. It is from this very environment that Airlift Northwest emerged to become the region’s very first intensive care air transport unit.

QUALIFIED CAPABILITY Today, Airlift Northwest and its fleet of he- licopters and fixed-wing units have grown to provide service throughout Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Washington. Whether it is an emergency dispatch or an inter-facility trans- port, flights accommodate services with two nurses licensed to provide advanced cardiac life support, advanced pediatric life support,

Every Second Counts EMS professionals strive to provide the best care to the patient. AgustaWestland provides unique, integrated and affordable products to the global healthcare delivery system. Together, bringing care to the patient with the best aero-medical solution.

LEADING THE FUTURE

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BWMNA AW109 Power EMS 1 Airlift Northwest05/09/13 10:02 | 9 Brenda Nelson, Chief Flight Nurse

trauma, and neonatal resuscitation. Flight medical service in Southeast Alaska to gar- nurses additionally hold certification in criti- ner this recognition which reflects its adher- cal care nursing, or , flight ence to the highest of patient care, safety and nursing or have undergone certification as operational standards within its industry. emergency medical technicians. Since 1997, While its medical personnel can effectively Airlift Northwest has been accredited by the respond to any health crisis, Airlift North- Commission on Accreditation of Medical west also engages pilots that have the neces- Transport Services; in fact, it was the first air sary training and necessary local knowledge

10 | Airlift Northwest to operate their aircraft. In serving the Pa- ing lives in the northwest. She says they also cific Northwest, Nelson explains that pilots plan to reach out to Washington’s leading encounter all matter of environmental con- pillars of industry and community leaders to ditions, flying over water, mountainous ter- connect and cultivate donors. “Dr. Copass rain and air corridors where hot-pockets or use to say that our good work would speak winds never make two days the same. Last for itself, but we’ve realized that it is impor- year, these pilots and medical personnel par- tant to do more to let people know what we ticipated in 3200 transports, caring for lives do,” says Nelson. and saving lives in the process. Of course, for those who have relied on In terms of the future, Nelson says Air- Airlift Northwest, there is clear understand- lift Northwest will remain dedicated to its ing of why this service is so critically essen- current region of service while also seeking tial. For a case in point, one need only con- means to maintain its viability. With much sider Author Richard Bach. In the months of its funding provided by reimbursements that have followed since Airlift Northwest from insurance providers, changes in the responded to his crash and rushed him to the healthcare law and declining reimbursement waiting arms of the doctors that helped save rates have Airlift Northwest seeking new fi- his life, he went on to establish a fund that nancing solutions. Nelson explains that Air- now benefits critical care programs affiliated lift Northwest has established a new mem- with UW Medicine, Harborview Medical bership program. Center, and the services provided by Airlift For $79 a year, an entire family could be Northwest. This philanthropic fund is ap- covered such that if a need for transport by propriately and affectionately known by a this service occurred, no charges will be as- title fully indicative of what is so expertly of- sessed to anyone in the family beyond what fered by Airlift Northwest - A Gift of Wings. insurance pays. That’s a small price to pay for Gifts to the A Gift of Wings fund can be the capabilities deployed by Airlift North- made online at www.supportuwmedicine. west, but Nelson reminds that it is also a org/wings small donation to support a vital service sav-

Airlift Northwest | 11