Medical Evacuation: Saving lives, helping families

Chris Hutton and his wife Julie 

A first-year med student didn’t know that his family membership with AirMed would come into play one day in early 2014

Sandy Kinkade Hutton has been an AirMed member for the past eight years. When she married Kevin Hutton in 2011, she added both her husband and stepson, Chris, onto her membership.

Chris Hutton is a first year med student at American University of the Caribbean located on Saint-Martin island in the Caribbean. Chris had experienced inability to urinate for several days, and finally made a decision along with his wife, Julie, who is a French citizen, to go to the local hospital to be checked by a doctor.

During what would be fairly routine treatment in any metropolitan medical center, the island medical staff was unable to place a catheter and traumatized Chris’s urethra. Then they managed to slice off a segment of a plastic catheter inside Chris’ bladder. His situation went from bad to worse within hours with concerns of peritonitis mounting. “The island surgeon said he had sliced off the tip of the catheter.” It wasn’t until we were back in the U.S. that the urologist told us it was a foot long piece of catheter,” Sandy said.

After the “oops” moment with the catheter, the Hutton’s knew they needed to get Chris off that island and to a higher level of medical care back in the United States. Sandy told him to make the call to AirMed.

Once the call to AirMed was made, AirMed put its operation in motion. “We talked to AirMed the entire time. We heard from them through email and through phone calls, they kept us informed every step of the way,” Sandy recalls.

Chris states "Lying in pain in a bed at night there at the island's hospital, it was the worst feeling, to feel a million miles away from home. Once the crews arrived, everything changed. I knew from the instant they walked in that I was safe, and on the road to recovery."

AirMed arrived, and Chris was transported to the University of Miami Hospital early the next morning. Because it was an international flight, U.S. Customs came to the ramp to check all passports. Chris was transported by ambulance to the hospital. “AirMed even arranged for a taxi to take Julie to the hospital when she was finished with Customs. It was just a level of completeness—AirMed saw to it that nobody was left stranded.” said Sandy.

Chris was taken into surgery in Miami to remove the catheter and assess the situation. A new catheter was inserted and remained in place for 3 days. It was removed, and Chris and Julie were able to return to St. Martin to resume his medical school studies with a new understanding of what it is like to be the patient.

Kevin and Sandy Kinkade Hutton

“The thing that makes this entire event even more remarkable,” Sandy continued, “is that I was a flight nurse for 13 years, and Kevin was a flight physician. I am a past President of the Association for Air Medical Services (AAMS), and Kevin is the current Chairman of MedEvac Foundation International. We really know this industry, inside and out. Neither of us ever, in a million years, thought we’d need to use our AirMed membership. It was SUCH a relief knowing that one call took care of everything.”

“As a flight nurse, I remember arriving at hospitals and the sigh of relief on people’s faces when the flight crew would show up,” Sandy said. “For the first time, I was on the other end of that scenario. I was on the patient side, and I knew professionals were on their way to get Chris off the island and that they were fully able to take care for him. It was such a relief once I knew the medical crew was on that island.”

Dr. Kevin Hutton added, “We want to really stress the fact that you never think it’s going happen to you. You simply never know when something like this will happen. Had we not had the AirMed membership, we’re not sure how this whole thing would have transpired.”

Sandy said, “I’ve seen so many times where people think their health insurance will cover this type of thing and it doesn’t. I’ve kept my AirMed membership all this time because you’d like to think that healthcare is good everywhere, especially on an island known for attracting tourists, but it is not.”

Chris and his family knew that AirMed had their back. Since he’s been back at school, Sandy has helped Chris write a protocol for the medical school he attends to try and put some sort of medevac membership policy in place. “ In the event of a medical emergency such as this, being prepared is the key,” she said. Chris commented, "I don't know what we would have done without AirMed membership. I am so grateful that my family is covered for the future."

Kevin added “We will NEVER be without an AirMed card.” Several of the Hutton’s family members are also new AirMed members.

When a business trip turns deadly: how one man made it home alive

Cliff Hawk, owner and president of Texas company KnightHawk Engineering shares the remarkable story of his near-death experience and the AirMed transport that helped get him the care he desperately needed.

"WHERE AM I?"

I suddenly awoke in a hospital bed and immediately noticed everyone was speaking in a language I did not understand. Then to my surprise my two boys and wife gathered around the bed side. I was on a ventilator and could not speak. My wife and sons started relaying the events that had occurred, starting with:

“You are in Seoul, South Korea in the University Hospital.” The story unfolded over the next week, and to this day, I can’t believe the story was about me and the struggle my family had.

Mr. Hawk shared this photo of him being taken aboard
AirMed's Hawker medical jet en route to Seoul, South Korea

Traveling for my company, Knighthawk, I arrived in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (UB) the capital city, at Genghis Khan Airport, then boarded a company plane for a 2.5 hour flight out into the Great Gobi Desert. The job site was at one of the largest copper and gold mines in the world. I started feeling under the weather, and the next morning I decided I better go to the site clinic. Within a matter of hours I had high fever, and it was decided that I must be air evacuated to a major clinic.

"I GOT WORSE."

All of my major organs began to shut down. The Mongolians called the U.S. embassy to start paperwork to transport my body to Houston. They told my wife and sons that I would die, but my wife and family refused to accept it.

My wife injected her knowledge with the help of Houston doctors into the situation.

Changes were made and against the Mongolian doctors’ advice, my wife and sons made the prayerfully thought out decision to life flight me via AirMed to Seoul, South Korea.

GETTING HOME VIA AN AIRMED PLANE

I arrived into Seoul at death’s door, and was immediately taken to the Seoul National University Hospital and put into the Intensive Care facility. I made it through the night and in four days had another major surgery. Soon, my vital signs went to normal, and the doctors said I could be medically evacuated back to Houston.

The last conversation with the doctors in Seoul the night before I left was surreal. “We have no idea why you are still on this earth and how you recovered.”

After six ambulance trips, two major surgeries and two air evacuations, I made it home to Houston alive. Study my story and realize that things can change in a moment. Thank you to AirMed and the rest of the people who helped to save my life.  --Cliff Hawk

Travel and Health News, the latest issue is out

AirMed is there not only when you need us, but where you need us.

In this issue of Travel+Health, AirMed's member newsletter:

• How does AirMed work?
• A CEO's business trip turns terrifying
• The Number One Traveler's Health Issue 
• Our members sound off, and more!
  

Follow this link to see the full AirMed News. 

Winter Driving Tips, Surviving Jet Lag, the Smallest Heart Patient and More

The latest AirMed Travel + Health News is full of great information for all of your travel and health needs this holiday season.  Jet lag? No problem. We've got ways to combat it.  Read all about one of our smallest and most miraculous patients and so much more. 

Click this link to read all the AirMed News and even get a discount code to Give the Gift of AirMed to the travelers in your life!

Visit us anytime at airmed.com to find our more about our life-saving air medical memberships with great benefits such as Second Opinion Referrals, 24/7 Medical Services Hotline and more.

Transporting the Smallest Critical Patients

A Heart Full of Love and Hope

One of our tiniest and most critically ill patients teaches us all a lesson of the human spirit

In October of 2010, AirMed met a miracle.

Alexis Cormier of Hazel Green, Alabama, was born with HLHS, a rare congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped. It stands for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. At age 3, she underwent a third surgery to help her symptoms, but after this complicated surgery, her entire heart was damaged beyond repair. She was immediately put on ECMO.

ECMO is a highly specialized treatment that stands for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation. It is similar to a heart-lung machine and in effect, it removes the blood from the patient,

The tiny patient seen among her life saving equipment
before the first air medical ECMO transport

oxygenates it outside of the body (removing carbon dioxide and adding oxygen) and then replaces it back into the patient. AirMed has the capability of transporting ECMO patients and all of the complicated equipment from one hospital to another’s critical care program. AirMed is one of only a handful of air ambulance programs in the world capable of this type of transport for both pediatric and adult patients.

After being placed on ECMO, Alexis’ hospital in Memphis requested she be moved to Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, and AirMed’s ECMO transport team was called into action.

Just four days after her first ECMO transport flight, it was decided that Alexis needed to be transported again, this time to UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, where she would receive a Berlin (artificial) heart.

Once more, the AirMed teams transported Alexis with their specialized ECMO equipment to UAB. This 3 year old who had struggled so much already in her short lifetime looked so small and helpless amidst all of the equipment. Her family held out for a miracle, but her will was strong and would not be denied.

Only four weeks later, members of the AirMed transport team traveled to UAB Hospital to find Alexis standing, smiling, brushing her teeth and splashing in the water at her hospital room sink. The only outward signs of any illness were a small feeding tube and two catheters under her clothing, connected at her lower abdomen. These catheters supply blood to her Berlin heart and return it to her circulatory system.

The Berlin heart device works by helping the right ventricle of the heart to pump blood to the lungs and the left ventricle to pump blood to the body. The bulk of the device is extracorporeal (outside the body); only the tubes are implanted. They emerge from small openings to enter the pump, a small round chamber, and the system is run by a laptop computer. 

The Berlin Heart is intended to be used as a bridge to recovery or as a bridge to a transplant, which Alexis required. She was listed as 1-A on the nationwide heart recipient list, meaning she was among the top pediatric priorities. 

Within a year, Alexis was undergoing a full blown heart transplant and now, in 2013, she is a thriving and active first grader. 

Every one of us at AirMed International is grateful to be able to touch a life such as Alexis Cormier’s during our day to day duties.

Become an AirMed member and visit airmed.com. 

AirMed's Medical Flight Insurance Gets Called Into Action From a Traumatic Vacation

Medical Flight Insurance That Never Fails

An accident can and will happen when you least expect it. Just ask American Bar Association member John Morrow. John is a senior partner with Bradley, Boult and Cummings in Birmingham, Alabama, and has been an ABA member since 1958. He is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has been listed in Best Lawyers in America for over 20 years. Not once in his life did he ever think he or any member of his family would need a medical evacuation—especially from a vacation spot he’d traveled to for many years.

In 2010 while vacationing with his wife and daughter-in-law, Morrow’s car was struck broadside by a semi-trailer truck in Colorado. The accident claimed the life of his daughter-in-law, and John and his wife, Martha, were rushed to a nearby hospital. They were both suffering from multiple, severe injuries when they were admitted to a hospital in Ft. Collins.

Because John and his family had a membership with AirMed, they knew that they could return home to their local hospital in Birmingham on an AirMed medical jet, but they didn’t realize just how comprehensive the AirMed service was. 

 “Once my son contacted AirMed, they took it from there. Everything, and I mean everything, was taken care of for us, even the ground ambulance to and from the hospitals,” said Mr. Morrow. “My wife was hurt worse than me, and our son, who is also a member of ABA, stayed in Colorado to help us. During this difficult time, it was extremely comforting that we could all be on the same AirMed jet back home. The AirMed crew was extremely competent, helpful and professional.”

"Everything, and I mean everything, was taken care of for us, even the ground ambulance to and from the hospitals"

AirMed provides award-winning, bedside-to-bedside service to you and your family if you are injured in another country or just across a few state lines. “I can’t express how much AirMed meant to me and my family during that devastating time,” added Mr. Morrow. “AirMed was truly our angel in the sky. Our period of hospitalization was far from over, and we were in no condition to travel any other way. We do not know what we would have done without AirMed.”

American Bar Insurance has arranged for ABA members to receive substantial discounts on annual AirMed memberships. There are no deductibles, no out-of-pocket costs, and no co-pays. AirMed is true peace of mind for any traveler.

Read the latest travel, health and medical transport information from AirMed

Get the Latest Information About Travel Health Insurance From AirMed's Newsletter

In the latest issue of AirMed News, we spotlight Emory University's important research work in Africa. Emory is one of the many university programs who use AirMed memberships to protect its students.  

Also featured:

• An in-depth look at cardiac and heart related matters;
• Travel destination: San Antonio, an ideal family vacation spot;
• Members share their AirMed stories;
• Meet the Staff, our new blog, and more!

For more information visit AirMed.com

AirMed offers comfort to family of a young burn victim with a medical flight to remember

A medical flight to remember

"It was such an ordinary day."  Britta Ann Meadows describes the morning her 22-month old son, Joshua, was finishing his breakfast. "I was tidying up the kitchen and turned my back. In that second, he’d reached from his highchair and pulled our water distiller down on top of himself.

"The bitter irony--the one thing we do to make us healthier harmed my baby; and I was so sure he would not be able to reach it or the cord." But reach it he did. Joshua suffered third-degree burns on more than 30 percent of his body from the boiling water.

In a fog of disbelief, shock, guilt, and the terror a parent feels when their child is suffering, Britta Ann and her husband David were told by first responders that their baby needed to be flown by helicopter from their small central Kansas town to a bigger hospital in Kansas City. "And I couldn’t even go with him…they had to fly him out by himself in the helicopter."

Once at the Kansas City hospital, the Meadows waited to see their baby and to hear what the doctors would tell them. "I was pretty sure I was calmly listening, but it caught me by surprise when they said 'Cincinnati.' It seemed matter of fact, but then, wait…Ohio?? Away from our home, my family?"

The best course of treatment for Joshua was at the renowned Cincinnati Shriners Hospital, and the short one-hour flight could not have seemed more distant to the distraught family.

"AirMed's compassion, respect, and complete ability to care for my child was something I will never forget."

Mrs. Meadows continued, "Realizing I really had no choice--we had to do what was best for Joshua, bravely and trusting God, no matter where that took us and that’s what I wanted to do--I quickly adjusted to another level of motherhood: I had better be able to stay with my child. Before I even asked, they answered my question; yes, one parent could accompany Joshua on the AirMed plane."

The small amount of relief available in that moment flooded through, knowing she would not be separated from Joshua again. All of the flight details were coordinated for the family by AirMed and the hospital staffs. "I was so thankful. I would not have known where to begin!"

"That night, the longest night of my life, the whole AirMed crew worked efficiently and calmly doing their jobs even among my constant questions. I rode on a stretcher for the first time in my life. It seemed the easiest way to calmly transport Joshua, and to hold my baby was exactly what we both needed," Britta Ann continued. "AirMed's compassion, respect, and complete ability to care for my child was something I will never forget."

After landing from the medical flight, the Meadows traveled by ground ambulance to Cincinnati Shriners, and the AirMed team led them to their room to say goodbye. "I felt like they were friends not strangers. They were a lifeline, and it was scary to say goodbye. But they had done their part, and now it was time for the Shriners doctors and nurses to do theirs." AirMed's Family Plans ensure the highest level of comfort.

Cincinnati Shriners Hospital for Children is one of the nation's leading burn care centers and is designed to allow children to recover in a safe, fun and friendly environment.

Mark Washam, director of clinical services at Cincinnati Shriners, commented, "We are always extremely pleased to work with AirMed because we know our patients will be given the highest level of care on their way to us." 

Joshua underwent two successful skin graft surgeries and was soon on his way back home to Kansas where he would continue his recovery and celebrate his 2nd Birthday.

"I was (and am) so grateful for AirMed and the team we had that night. They were the link from Kansas to Ohio who got Joshua there quickly and safely, while reassuring a confused, scared mother who was wracked with guilt...Why had I turned my back? Why had this happened, why, why? They helped me feel in control, assured, confident, and free of guilt. Truly, they helped me set me back on my track of motherhood."

Now back home in Kansas and almost fully healed, Joshua has adjusted well to his ongoing therapy of massages and stretches after his surgeries. He remains eager to learn and spends his time smiling, playing, laughing and giving hugs to all the new people he meets. "Nothing phases him apparently. He is back to his old self--except new and improved," says his mother.

"AirMed was a wonderful gift from God, a lifeline and reassurance of hope during our family’s most traumatic experience," Britta Ann Meadows concluded. "Thank you, AirMed!"

For more information about AirMed's medical capabilities or to remind fellow travelers how to become an AirMed member, visit our website airmed.com.

To find out more about the remarkable work done by the Shriners Hospitals for Children - Cincinnati, visit their site.