They felt it was their duty.
After Intermountain Health Care’s Life Flight helicopter crashed on June 7, killing the pilot, Life Flight was grounded for a week to allow for grieving time and an internal investigation.
The U Hospital’s AirMed flight team responded by working overtime to cover for Life Flight and continue providing uninterrupted response service.
“Everyone just felt a sense of duty,” said Ken Matthews, AirMed director.
To make up for Life Flight’s down time, an extra helicopter and two additional flight teams were needed. Scheduling was adjusted to create the additional teams by converting backup shifts to regular shifts.
Backup shifts required staff members to be on call but not on duty. Converting them to regular shifts and lengthening the shifts allowed AirMed to have enough staff day and night.
The pilots and nurses ended up working between 12 and 24 extra hours that week.
“We felt obligated to help out. We know they’d do it for us,” said Rob Stantus, AirMed flight nurse.
The extra helicopter needed was available by luck. AirMed had recently ordered an extra to cover for one which needed maintenance. Maintenance was performed between calls and both helicopters remained available.
AirMed crew members did receive some pay incentives for their extra hours, but Matthews insists it was never an issue. Stantus agreed, saying that continuing flight service to people in the state was their only concern.
“Our friends at Air Med were phenomenal,” said Jess Gomez, Life Flight spokesman. “They were incredibly supportive of the Life Flight family. We really appreciate all they’ve done during this time.”
Life Flight resumed flight service June 16th after an internal investigation determined a part in the rudder-called a trunnion-had unexpectedly snapped in half, separating the rudder from the helicopter.
After replacing the trunnion in their second helicopter with a new one inspected for faults by X ray, the Life Flight team began responding to calls again, much to the relief of AirMed.