Emergency air evac, something to think about

[MotorSeven]

I'm not degrading what the air crews are capable of when it comes to saving lives. But.....I have seen folks medi vac'd(retired leo) that did not have life threatening injuries. Unfortunately, the patient has no say so if his/her condition is remotely considered critical as to what form of transportation to take. I understand both sides of the argument, and I really hope I am never in that situation as a patient. Inmho, medi vac's should be reserved for confirmed life threatening injuries.

 

[Western]

M7, I have seen that happen with ground ambulance (allot), but never with Medic evac flights, expensive critical piece of emergency resource to use for minor emergency. It is usually the ground crew, (paramedics or other medically trained personnel) that determine if flight is needed at least here and they are a pretty good judge of trauma. I have put them on standby many times as LEO, but it is the medic that gives the go ahead.

Agree 1000%, precious resource that should be used appropriately.

 

[RSKY]

I have two friends who would NOT be here today if not for Air Evac. We are subscribers and I buy both my daughters a subscription each year for Christmas. It is a gift I hope they never use. The oldest daughter's husband is a volunteer firefighter and the department buys a yearly subscription to the other local helicopter ambulance. This covers all members families.

Some facts you may not be aware of: If the service you subscribe to is unavailable, out on another call, the EMTs will call somebody else. So even if you are a subscriber you may get stuck with a bill. If the air ambulance is called, you are going on it! A coworker had a motorcycle wreck about five years ago. The EMTs could not do anything for him and called Air Evac. The guy was laying on the ground kicking and having severe convulsions so they called. By the time the chopper got there he was up walking around. He still had to go. The bill was $17,000.

Another coworker had to have his mother flown to Nashville from far western Tennessee three times in six months. She had cancer and would not have survived an ambulance ride. He got a notice from Air Evac that since his family had used the service so much that they were going to have to raise his rates. From $65 to $90 a year. Needless to say he paid it happily.

I would recommend everyone get this if you live in a rural area.

RSKY

 

[byronlj]

My wife was put on a helicopter memorial day 2010 and we just finished negotiating with the evac service. They charged $34,000.00 for an 80 mile flight. Our insurance company mostly ignored them after a partial payment. We went back and forth all through this summer and fall with both companies. Our insurance finally said they paid all they wanted to. The helicopter service then threatened collections so we had to pay most of the balance, $5,400.00 in cash.
Dave

 

[luvmexfood]

Here in Southwest Virginia as well as other areas of the state the Virginia State Police operate a medflight helicopter with staffing from a local hospital. No charge last that I knew and pretty sure still. Heck years ago they would even go into Tennessee free and pick-up patients before a helicopter service was established by a hospital. They still will for major emergencies such as an airplane crash.

 

[riptides]

I got to use our service out of NOVA. Saved my life. I got a tee-shirt too.

 

[Ken45101]

Here in southern Ohio, various air evac outfits are used according to availability. When we had our motorcycle wreck in 2012, the first called flight had trouble. EMS transported my wife to the local hospital landing pad and she was evac'd on another flight to the Cincinnati Level 1 trauma center. I've seen the same issue in other situations where it takes 2 or 3 flights before they get one actually to the scene.

In our case, they initially billed $16K (60 mile flight). Medicare paid around $2K and they accepted that, we were billed an additional $500. Those limits are set by Medicare. If they accept Medicare, they cannot charge more than the assigned amount. (Local EMS also charged an additional $1000. Geesh, I used to do it at no charge!)

Here locally, EMS will put a flight on standby or in the air even before they arrive on the scene. The fire department is dispatched to set up a landing zone. OTOH, just across the river in Kentucky, the EMS always transports to the local hospital landing zone and meets the copter there.

Bottom line, I would be very cautious about signing up with any particular company since they may not make the flight. Check your health insurance to see what is covered. If you feel the need for more coverage, look for it as part of general coverage, not with a particular company.)

On a related topic, I remember reading a story where, in NE Minnesota, the air evac flight has to land and refuel before they get to the pickup point! Ouch!

 

[txdon]

Bottom line, I would be very cautious about signing up with any particular company since they may not make the flight. Check your health insurance to see what is covered. If you feel the need for more coverage, look for it as part of general coverage, not with a particular company.

Has anyone check with their Insurance Co. about extra coverage. I think that would be the way to go, then there would be no problems with being on the wrong chopper.

I was also wondering, does the air service that you subscribe to also bill your insurance?