Medical helicopter crashes put spotlight on wise use of resources

There's nothing more tragic than the crash of a medical helicopter carrying a patient and the dedicated, highly-trained personnel trying to save his life.

Doubling it in the collision of two medical helicopters, as occurred Sunday near Flagstaff, Ariz., makes the tragedy almost unbearable.

The incident focuses the spotlight of public scrutiny on the whole medivac issue, which has seen the crash of nine emergency medical aircraft this year, six of them helicopters. Sixteen people, including the six killed Sunday, have died in the crashes.

Critics will find more ammunition for their attacks on medical helicopters, which they see as expensive flying billboards in urban areas.

And they have valid arguments. Helicopters cost from $1.5 million to $5.7 million to purchase and up to a million dollars a year to operate -- money that might be more effectively spent in ground-based medical investments.

A number of studies have indicated that the use of helicopters benefit only a small number of patients, and that many of those transported were discharged directly from the emergency departments without even being admitted to the hospital, or discharged within two days.

But many of the same studies indicate the helicopters that are available are being used in the wrong areas, namely urban areas where most people are only minutes away from trauma centers anyway.

Advances in local Emergency Medical Services capabilities, such as more trained paramedics and new devices such as automatic external defibrillators, have reduced the need for quick transport to trauma centers.

And, some studies indicated, the speed of the helicopters makes more difference in delivering medical services and personnel to the scene of the trauma than in delivering the patient to the emergency room.

Helicopters are best used when they are strategically placed in a network that serves rural hospitals and providers, the studies conclude.

We're grateful for having medical helicopter service available in Southwest Nebraska, and wish we still had one based in McCook, like we did for a short time a few years ago.

As medical expenses climb and resources dwindle, expensive resources like medical helicopters need to be used where they can do the most good.