exclaimed . “ It can be scene flights , or it can be hospital transfers .”
“ We depend on our fire departments and local ground crews to make sure it ’ s safe for us to land ,” Garrett said . “ Once we have ground contact with someone on the scene , we get a report from EMS . We do our assessment and then we ’ ll get them ready to transport to a hospital .”
Garrett also stated that Air Methods Kentucky 3 Somerset was one of the first in Kentucky to carry blood on their flights . Blood can be a life-saving commodity in certain critical trauma medical emergencies .
While the Air Methods pilot controls the aircraft , a medical team of nurses and paramedics work in unison to care for the patients onboard . Flight paramedic Tom Watters explained while the Air Methods medical team have different titles , their roles are interchangeable
“ Our roles are the same , we bring different specialties to the helicopter ,” Watters explained . “ Jamie ( Davenport ) worked in a hospital . She was a more critical care , a lot of cardiac , and medical type patients . She dealt with trauma too , but being a paramedic on an ambulance is where we generally start . We ’ re more emergency trauma focused and we do deal with a lot of medical problems , but we ’ re more of a prehospital care .”
“ As a paramedic , we specialize in airway control management and advanced airway .” Watters added . “ On the helicopter , our roles are interchangeable . We ’ ve been here long enough , we learned that clinical in hospital side of it . And it ’ s actually the perfect meshing of the two . It ’ s actually the best standard of care .” However , all their pre-flight preparations cannot prepare the local
Air Methods paramedic Rudy Garrett looks over their medical supplies to begin his day .
Photo by Steve Cornelius
Air Methods crew for any inclement weather they may encounter before or during their flight . At that point , the local Air Methods team must use their many years of flight knowledge and experience to determine whether it is safe to fly to a scene .
“ Basically , it takes three ( people ) to go and one ( person ) to say no ,” Garrett stated . “ The pilot accepts the flight . They look at the weather based on forecast , current conditions , ceilings , and visibility . But if we walk outside and one of us doesn ’ t like the way this looks or we don ’ t really feel comfortable , then anyone of us can say ‘ no ’ and turn around and come back inside .”
And while the job the Air Methods team performs is both challenging and stressful , they also get to spend a lot of down-time together as a team . In a sense , the Air Methods Kentucky 3 Somerset team is more like a family and they tend to pick on each other like siblings usually do . Air Methods pilot Lyle Cram seems to be the one to keep the rest of his team members on their toes .
“ We throw rocks at each other ,” Cram laughed . “ If you ’ re thinskinned , you ’ re in the wrong place because we throw rocks at each other a lot . It ’ s part of the stress mechanism to tease and joke . We know each other . While we ’ re here at the base , we can eat , sleep , watch TV , play video games , and I sometimes play guitar .”
The next time you look up in the air and see that ‘ blue and white ’ Air Methods helicopter soaring in the Pulaski County skyline , know that the Air Methods Kentucky 3 Somerset team is en route to helping others in need of medical help .
• • • • • • • • STEVE CORNELIUS is the CJ Editor and can be reached at scornelius @ somerset-kentucky . com . Follow him on Twitter at @ CJSportseditor .
Commonwealth Journal - Unsung Heroes - 2022 11