After a wreck at the intersection of Ky. 313 and Highland Avenue in Vine Grove Thursday night, a passenger needed to be air lifted for medical attention. The process of calling in air support begins with the 911 call.
“If we know there’s been an entrapment where the person can’t get out of the vehicle freely without tools, if there’s been a rollover, if there’s been an ejection or a death, those are all grounds to request air medical,” Hardin County Emergency Medical Services Director Mark Peterson said. “We base a lot of that just on dispatch information.”
He said, once first responders are on scene, they also can request a helicopter if there are substantial trauma injuries, and most of the trauma cases go to the University of Louisville Hospital.
“They can get there a lot quicker than we can, and that’s why we utilize that resource.”
There also are life-saving remedies that can be administered in a helicopter but not in the back of a truck, Peterson said.
“Giving blood is a big example of that,” he said. “Anybody that sustains a significant trauma, they’re going to need blood products. That’s something the helicopter can get started before they even get to the trauma center.”
Peterson said two main companies who provided the emergency helicopeter service locally: Air Methods in Elizabethtown and Air Evac Lifeteam in Breckinridge County.
Vine Grove Police Chief Kenny Mattingly said, in Vine Grove, helicopters are able to utilize the airport for landing. He said he sees landings taking place at the airport every week.
“Some of the calls don’t necessarily happen in Vine Grove,” he said. “It could happen out in the county, and if it’s on the perimeter of Vine Grove, they’re going to bring it to the airport.”
Mattingly and Peterson agreed it was much a much safer alternative.
“It’s a lot safer because you’re not shutting down roadways. There are no power lines to worry about and all the helicopter services know where it’s at,” Peterson said.
Details about crash victims and their conditions were not available Friday from police.
Peterson advised anyone who called 911 at the scene of a crash to be patient with dispatch’s questions and try to paint an accurate picture of the circumstances.
“If they feel like the injury or wreck is pretty significant, they need to relay that to the dispatch center so they can get that information to the responding units,” he said.
Seth Dukes can be reached at 270-505-1413 or sdukes@thenewsenterprise.com.
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