photo by Brie Cohen

Albert Lea and its lakes are seen from above in a Mayo One helicopter Wednesday.

Care in the air: Take a ride in the newest Mayo One helicopter

Staff

Published Saturday, July 26, 2008

Dressed in blue flame-retardant suits and shatter-proof helmets that are set up with night vision capabilities, the crew aboard the newest helicopter in the Mayo One fleet prepares for takeoff.

After sitting down on the blue Mayo One seats and buckling their seat belts, which go across their laps and chests, the cockpit goes silent.

Each member of the crew looks out the windows of the helicopter to see if there are any obstructions, and when the coast is clear, the pilot begins his ascent into the air above Albert Lea from the lakeside helipad at Albert Lea Medical Center.

When a flight request comes in, staff do a weather check of the area and make sure it’s safe to fly, said one crew member, Bridget Berry, a registered nurse. But when the crew initially gets a call, they have no idea ahead of time who the patient is or what the condition of that individual is.

They find this information out while in route so they can be prepared for whatever they come across. And prepared they are.

The crew carries 60 medications aboard the helicopter and has the capability of drawing labs, monitoring a baby, giving IV pumps and monitoring a person’s heart, to name a few of the procedures. Not only does the helicopter provide rapid transport, but it also provides critical care.

Usually the crew consists of a nurse, a paramedic and the pilot, but sometimes there can be two nurses and a pilot, Berry said.

Together with paramedic Andy Konechne, she said, she is able to take on any injury or condition. And if the crew has a question about a condition while in transit, they can immediately contact a physician on land back at St. Marys Hospital through a satellite phone.

From the outside, the American Eurocopter EC145 looks tiny, but once a person sees the inside, they’ll take back that judgment, especially after being informed of all of its capabilities.

“It looks small, but for air medical standards, it’s a large aircraft,” said Glenn Lyden, director of corporate communications for Mayo Clinic Medical Transport.

The helicopter, which is based in Mankato, has the capability of carrying two patients and three crew members. It came on board in January, and the second of its kind will be coming later in the year.

Lyden said Albert Lea has the second highest flight volume with the Mayo One helicopter because of the larger region that Albert Lea’s hospital serves.

It takes 20 minutes to get from Mankato to Albert Lea and then 20 additional minutes to get from Albert Lea to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, said pilot Bill Schmidt.

While aboard the aircraft, he has access to the Garmin 430 and 530 Global Positioning Systems and a GMX 200 multifunctional display that can tell him things such as weather conditions, where other planes are in relation to the aircraft and lightning detection.

The crew in the helicopter are in constant correspondence with dispatchers to let them know where they are and what they’re doing.

Berry said though the job sometimes has its stressful moments, she finds solace in the skills she and her co-workers have learned.

“That’s the comforting thing,” she said. “I know I can do it. You see so many different things.”

In addition to high skills and medical knowledge, the crew treat patients with utmost respect and kindness that also helps to reassure them as they’re flying in the air.

Not to mention the view they see as they’re flying.

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