CALSTAR Flight Nurses Cleared of All Charges in 2008 Cricothyroidotomy Incident [VIDEO]

September 23, 2010 lawmed No comments

According to this company press release, two CALSTAR flight nurses have been cleared of disciplinary charges by the California Board of Nursing. The two had been accused of causing a patient’s death by an improper cricothyroidotomy procedure in 2008.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Lynn Malmstrom
(916) 921-4000

SACRAMENTO, Calif – Following a 15-day hearing with testimony from at least 20 witnesses, the California Board of Registered Nurses has dismissed all disciplinary charges against two CALSTAR (California Shock Trauma Air Rescue) flight nurses from an incident occurring in February 2008. The two trauma nurses were accused of causing the death of a bus driver when they provided emergency care after he was ejected from his vehicle.

Registered and certified flight nurses Thomas Zoltanski and Bradley Sidwell faced the potential to lose their licenses in the Board action, in which they were accused of negligence and incompetence in performing a surgical procedure, … (Continued…)

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Fired Fulton County 911 Operator Sues the County For $10.5 Million

September 11, 2010 lawmed No comments

We previously reported on DeKalb County Ga. EMS delayed response times, and now adjacent Fulton County, which includes the city of Atlanta, apparently has had problems of its own.

Ex-911 Operator Sues Fulton County, Ga. for $10.5 Million

Story by wsbtv.com

ATLANTA –

A 911 operator fired after sending an ambulance to the wrong address, is now suing the Fulton County government, its former 911 director, and three other employees for $10.5 million.

Gina Conteh said the county made her a scapegoat when Johns Creek resident Darlene Dukes died after waiting an hour for that ambulance.

“The Fulton County director, and other upper management team members clearly knew she was not capable of handling that position,” said Conteh’s attorney Rory Starkey.

The lawsuit claims “discipline in this case was political” and “intense media scrutiny called for a termination.”

An audit revealed systemic problems in the 911 center and then director,

… (Continued…)

Bain Said To Agree To Buy Air Medical, Largest U.S. EMS Air Medical Service For $1B

August 28, 2010 lawmed No comments

(Reuters) - NEW YORK | Thu Aug 26, 2010 Private equity firm Bain Capital LLC has reached a deal to buy Air Medical Group Holdings, the largest independent U.S. provider of emergency air medical services, for around $1 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

It is the latest in a string of deals which has seen private equity firms buying companies from each other, known as secondary buyouts.

Private equity firms have incentives both to buy and sell right now. Pressure is on to invest billions of dollars raised in 2006-2008 as the end of those funds’ investment periods approach. Funds are also keen to sell or take public existing investments to reward investors such as pension funds whose portfolios may be partly underwater.

Some funds also face pressure to spend capital raised in the boom and are nervous about the threat of higher taxes.

Air

… (Continued…)

Pre-Hospital Factors Predict Which Non-Trauma EMS Transported Patients Become Critically Ill

August 19, 2010 lawmed No comments

JAMA : The Journal of the American Medical Association

Out-of-hospital factors can predict which patients will become critically ill

August 18, 2010

ST LOUIS (MD Consult) – A clinical prediction rule based on out-of-hospital factors can identify nontrauma patients being transported by emergency medical services (EMS) who are likely to require critical care, according to a study in the August 18, 2010, issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

The analysis included 144,913 adult patients, excluding those with traumatic injury or cardiac arrest, transported by King County, Wash., EMS from 2002 through 2006. The patients were randomly divided into development and validation cohorts. Records were linked to hospital discharge data to identify patients who developed critical illness, defined as severe sepsis, need for mechanical ventilation, or in-hospital death.

The development set was used to identify out-of-hospital factors that predicted the development of critical illness. These were incorporated into

… (Continued…)

Remembering EMS Heroes And Their Patients: MSP Trooper 2 Tragic Helicopter Crash

June 25, 2010 lawmed 1 Comment

Around 11:10 pm Saturday September 27th, 2008, Maryland State Police Medivac Trooper 2 responded to Waldorf, Maryland. The mission was to transport two car crash victims to Prince George’s Hospital Center’s trauma unit. After lifting off from the scene with 3 crew members and two patients on board, the pilot contacted the tower at Andrews Air Force Base for a diverted landing there, requesting assistance with an instrument landing, due to weather. Two ambulances were dispatched to the airfield to meet the helicopter and complete the patient transports. The helicopter never arrived. According to National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman, between the time the helicopter left its hanger at Andrews Air Force Base and when it was back in the same area, heading to the hospital, visibility had dropped from about seven miles to four miles. In that same hour, the cloud cover, or ceiling, went from 1300 feet … (Continued…)

Children of Flight Nurse Killed In Air Evac Crash Awarded $5.6 Million

June 25, 2010 lawmed No comments

A $5.6 million settlement was reached earlier this month over a AIR EVAC medical helicopter crash that killed a flight nurse and two others in August 2008. The lawsuit was filed by the National Bank of Indianapolis on behalf of the nurse’s two children, as reported by the Indianapolis Star.

The medical helicopter crash killed flight nurse Sandra Pearson, 38; pilot Roger Warren, 43, and base manager Wade Weston 38, when the rotor separated from the Bell 206 Longranger helicopter. The aircraft crashed in a field outside Burney. The lawsuit named Rolls-Royce, the helicopter’s engine maker; Decatur County REMC, the utility responsible for maintaining power lines in the area; Rushville Memorial Hospital, which dispatched the helicopter; and Bell Helicopter Textron, the rotor manufacturer, as the defendants.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) discovered that a flawed main rotor blade had shattered just after taking off.

The multi-million dollar settlement will … (Continued…)

Tranexamic Acid: Cheap Wonder Drug Stops Severe Bleeding In Trauma Patients

June 16, 2010 lawmed No comments

A large multinational study has been completed which shows a cheap, off patent drug called tranexamic acid, or TXA, effectively stops severe bleeding after trauma or surgery. The finding potentially will lead to the saving of millions of lives. Unlike the controversial recombinant Factor VII we previously reported on, TXA shows none of the safety concerns regarding blood clots, heart attack or stroke. The ‘CRASH-2 Study involved over 20,000 acute blunt and penetrating trauma patients.

Summary
Background: Tranexamic acid can reduce bleeding in patients undergoing elective surgery. We assessed the effects of early administration of a short course of tranexamic acid on death, vascular occlusive events, and the receipt of blood transfusion in trauma patients.

Methods: This randomized controlled trial was undertaken in 274 hospitals in 40 countries. 20,211 adult trauma patients with, or at risk of, significant bleeding were randomly assigned within 8 h of injury to either

… (Continued…)

Need an Ambulance in DeKalb County Ga.? Prepare to Wait.

May 13, 2010 lawmed 1 Comment

For the second time in two weeks residents of DeKalb County Georgia, just outside of Atlanta, emergency 911 calls for paramedics have taken over 20 minutes for help to arrive. One patient, a 16 year old with a traumatic head injury waited 22 minute for an ambulance. A second patient, 90 years old with heart problems waited 28 minutes for help. Paramedics arrived…but was the first response fire-medic engine which got there (you know, the one that should be there in under 4 minutes). An ambulance never showed and her son drove her to the hospital.

SEE The Atlanta Journal-Constitution… (Continued…)

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Ex-911 Operator Sues Fulton County, Ga. for $10.5 Million

Out-of-hospital factors can predict which patients will become critically ill

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