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| 2006 Texas EMS Aeromedical Program of the Year | ||||||||||
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Emergency Dispatch 800-531-STAR | |||||||||||||||
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STAR Flight Mission Profile |
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STAR Flight (Shock Trauma Air Rescue) is a unique public safety air rescue program that performs everything from the transport of critically ill patients to fire fighting, rescue to law enforcement. Based in Austin, Texas STAR Flight is funded to protect and serve the citizens of Travis County but also serves 19 other counties within the Central Texas area when our assistance is requested. The majority of STAR Flight’s responses are to assist people experiencing medical problems such as heart attacks or strokes or suffering from traumatic injuries sustained in motor vehicle crashes or recreational activities. We also regularly respond to requests from rural hospitals to transport very sick patients to larger, better equipped hospitals. STAR Flight is the Air Operations Division of Austin-Travis County EMS, a third-service EMS provider that is a cooperative program between City of Austin and Travis County. As part of the first line EMS response, STAR Flight is dispatched through the same 911 system as other ambulances and fire equipment and is frequently dispatched at the same time. We are utilized within the Travis County system as a first-response Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulance and it is not uncommon for us to beat ground ambulances to scenes within the rural parts of the county. If a call is triaged through our dispatch center as a high priority medical request and it is estimated that an ambulance will take longer than 20 minutes to arrive on scene, STAR Flight will be automatically dispatched directly to the scene. (This differs from most air programs in the country that are not requested until after an emergency unit arrives on scene and determines that a helicopter is needed.) Our liftoff times average between 4-6 minutes. It is Austin-Travis County EMS’s goal to have an ALS-trained responder to the side of every patient within 20 minutes of receiving the call for assistance. Travis County, as well as the Texas Hill Country, presents many unique challenges for EMS and rescue crews. Commonly referred to as “Flash Flood Alley” due to the swift and severe nature of deadly flash flooding events, it holds distinction as the number one area in the nation for flash flood rescues. There are also several large lakes and rivers very popular for house boating and water recreation. Access is often difficult and remote. The ability to rapidly locate the scene and deploy highly trained medical personnel directly to the scene, whether in or out of the water, has proven to be a lifesaver for many residents and visitors to Travis County’s lakes. STAR Flight also operates within the Special Operations Command of Austin-Travis County EMS allowing us the ability to safely and competently extricate patients from High Hazard Environments, including high/low angle cliffs, swift water, and even confined space. All of our medical crews spend hundreds of hours training each year to treat and rescue people from these austere environments. STAR Flight rescuers can access a patient directly from the air via rappelling or hiking, initiate advanced medical care and package the patient, short-haul them to an area suitable to land in, and then load them into the aircraft and transport them directly to the nearest trauma center. Our program is founded on principles of flexibility and versatility – on expert care in any environment. Any place…any time…anywhere. Scroll down to see a more specific description of our various roles and specialties.
EMS and Critical Care Transports STAR Flight’s central focus has always been on providing high quality, rapid, and efficient medical care to patients anywhere, anytime and in any situation. Most requests for STAR Flight are either a “scene call” or a critical care transport. A “scene call” is a request for STAR Flight to respond directly to where the emergency occurs. Often this is a vehicle accident or a patient’s home. Any emergency responder within our 19 county response area can request a response from STAR Flight directly to the scene by contacting our dispatch center in Austin, Texas. Our crews will land right at the scene of the crash and begin providing advanced medical care immediately. The other common request for STAR Flight comes from hospitals in the central Texas region. Responding with a paramedic and registered nurse, STAR Flight crews transport critically ill and injured patients requiring specialized care from outlying hospitals to hospitals specializing in cardiac, stroke, trauma, pediatric and neonatal care. Beginning in 2006 STAR Flight partnered with pediatric and neonatal specialty transport teams in Austin. STAR Flight can now be requested to transport pediatric and neonatal specialty team members to outlying hospitals in the Central Texas region to assist in the care and transportation of sick or premature babies and children. Once the patient has been stabilized, they, along with the neonatal or pediatric transport team members, are flown directly back to the hospital where specialized care can be continued. In this way, specialized Neonatal or Pediatric ICU level care can begin upon our arrival at the outlying facility and continued all the way to the NICU/PICU.
Rescue (Water) Central Texas is home to several large lakes, such as Lake Travis, Lake Austin, and Lake LBJ, where recreational water sports are very popular. Central Texas also has geography that makes severe flooding a fairly regular occurrence. STAR Flight has developed a program to rescue victims located in fast moving flood waters, commonly referred to as “swift water” or calm bodies of water, such as our local lakes. When a call is received for a victim in the water, STAR Flight crews prepare the aircraft and a crew member will “dress out” in special water rescue equipment appropriate for the type rescue that is anticipated. Once airborne, STAR Flight crews gather information from dispatch or crews on the scene and begin to plan accordingly. Once over the scene and a victim is located, STAR Flight crews determine the safest way to get an advanced life support (ALS) qualified rescuer to the victim’s side. For a victim in lake water, a rescuer may be deployed out of the helicopter directly into the water to locate, assess and begin medical care of the victim. If the victim is located in “swift water”, STAR Flight crews may take a slightly different approach. Due to the extreme danger and unpredictability of “swift water”, a STAR Flight rescuer can be moved to the victim’s location using a “short haul” technique. The victim is secured to the end of the “short haul line” and then moved (with a rescuer still in attendance) to a safe location where medical care can be initiated. These rescues are typically done during flash flood events and usually result from people ignoring road conditions and attempting to drive through water and creek crossings and getting stuck or stranded. Victims are most often found either on the roof top of their vehicle or are washed downstream clinging to trees or bushes. These rescues represent some of the most challenging and time-dependent rescue operations that we do. It is not uncommon to find victims clinging to submerged roof racks mere minutes from being drowned or washed away. Water crossings can be very dangerous and should not ever be taken lightly.
Rescue (Land) Central Texas is home to very diverse and beautiful outdoor recreation areas. Some are remote and rugged, such as Enchanted Rock State Park, and some close – even downtown. Austin has a large series of rugged wilderness areas within the city limits that are popular places for hiking, rock climbing, and mountain biking. A number of individuals each year become lost or injured within these areas and need rapid extraction and medical treatment. STAR Flight’s ability to search from the air and then to rappel a rescuer directly to the patient’s side saves critical minutes. When the need arises, STAR Flight is also able to short haul victims from within the wilderness areas or from cliff sides making an appealing and effective alternative to hiking several miles over rough and rugged terrain. STAR Flight is able to rappel a rescuer to the patient, perform a thorough assessment, initiate treatment on all life-threatening injuries, package the patient, and be ready to short-haul within 10-20 minutes.
Fire Suppression STAR Flight is often called by local fire departments to assist firefighters on the ground with grass and vegetation fires. STAR Flight crews are able to assist in two primary operations. STAR Flight crews can assume the role of Air Attack Coordinator assisting firefighters on the ground by providing information about the fire such as direction of travel, hot spots, threatened structures, and areas that firefighters may need address immediately. Most often, however, STAR Flight is utilized to provide direct aerial suppression using a bucket called a Bambi Bucket to drop water directly on the fire and its advancing perimeter. The Bambi Bucket, a 140 gallon bucket that hangs from the bottom of the helicopter by several cables, is “dipped” into a body of water such as a pond or lake. After the bucket is filled with water, the water is transported to the fire, and is dropped where it is needed most. This tool is particularly effective in light fuels commonly found around Central Texas. Many houses are located in dense, heavily-treed areas which are very prone to fires and difficult to protect. STAR Flight’s priorities on a fire are to first save and protect life, then property and environment.
Law Enforcement STAR Flight assists local law enforcement agencies during suspect searches, vehicle pursuits, and by providing aerial surveillance during high-risk operations. STAR Flight personnel are not certified as law enforcement officers and therefore do not provide “on the ground” back up, nor do they carry weapons, but can be a great assistance to officers by providing a set of “eyes in the sky” both to help locate suspects or to provide and element of protection for officers on the ground. Our Night Vision Goggle technology in combination with IR lighting allow us to scan large areas and locate hiding suspects on even the darkest night.
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Aviation services provided by Travis County DBA: STAR Flight
The
STAR Flight Fund is a 501.3C non-profit organization. |
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