Hawaii Life Flight, AMR and U.S. Coast Guard Pilots Collaborate for Structured Aircraft and Flight Safety Training
8.29.2023
The training was aimed at patient loading and transport protocols with a special focus on bariatric and critical patients.
First responders from Hawaii Life Flight and American Medical Response (AMR) Oahu participated in a structured aircraft and flight safety training with the U.S. Coast Guard’s Pilots in Command (PICS) this week. The training was aimed at patient loading and transport protocols with a special focus on bariatric and critical patients.
“The USCG Pilots in Command already provide extensive crew safety briefings to our clinicians prior to each mission, and we want to assure our flight and ground ambulance crews also have regular aircraft safety training with the USCG in addition to each mission, so that was the goal for our session this week,” said Mark Leggett, director of service delivery for Hawaii Life Flight. “Essential aircraft emergency procedures were reviewed along with medical mission considerations unique to bariatric and critical patient populations.”
Hawaii Life Flight and AMR assumed the responsibility for providing critical care clinical crew staffing for all emergent bariatric medical patient transports conducted by the USCG on their C130 aircraft in Hawaii beginning in December 2022. This was after Hawaii Healthcare Emergency Management (HHEM) requested help to staff these missions when they could no longer do so. Since December 2022 to date, Hawaii Life Flight has worked with the State of Hawaii Department of Health Emergency Medical Services and Injury Prevention System Branch (EMSIPSB) district medical control physicians and USCG Hawaii Pacific Command to coordinate and conduct 15 critical care bariatric medical patient missions in the Hawaiian islands, supporting all hospitals in the state when they needed to transport critically ill or injured patients to a higher level of hospital care that could not otherwise be accommodated using standard medical aircraft due to the size and weight of the patients.
Hawaii Life Flight and AMR Oahu appreciate the collaboration and support provided by the USCG Hawaii Pacific Command to safely prepare for and conduct these unique missions. The collaboration between Hawaii Life Flight, AMR and the USCG is a testament to their commitment to providing the highest level of care to patients in Hawaii.
“The USCG Pilots in Command already provide extensive crew safety briefings to our clinicians prior to each mission, and we want to assure our flight and ground ambulance crews also have regular aircraft safety training with the USCG in addition to each mission, so that was the goal for our session this week,” said Mark Leggett, director of service delivery for Hawaii Life Flight. “Essential aircraft emergency procedures were reviewed along with medical mission considerations unique to bariatric and critical patient populations.”
Hawaii Life Flight and AMR assumed the responsibility for providing critical care clinical crew staffing for all emergent bariatric medical patient transports conducted by the USCG on their C130 aircraft in Hawaii beginning in December 2022. This was after Hawaii Healthcare Emergency Management (HHEM) requested help to staff these missions when they could no longer do so. Since December 2022 to date, Hawaii Life Flight has worked with the State of Hawaii Department of Health Emergency Medical Services and Injury Prevention System Branch (EMSIPSB) district medical control physicians and USCG Hawaii Pacific Command to coordinate and conduct 15 critical care bariatric medical patient missions in the Hawaiian islands, supporting all hospitals in the state when they needed to transport critically ill or injured patients to a higher level of hospital care that could not otherwise be accommodated using standard medical aircraft due to the size and weight of the patients.
Hawaii Life Flight and AMR Oahu appreciate the collaboration and support provided by the USCG Hawaii Pacific Command to safely prepare for and conduct these unique missions. The collaboration between Hawaii Life Flight, AMR and the USCG is a testament to their commitment to providing the highest level of care to patients in Hawaii.
