Regional Air Medical Services Working Cooperatively for Patient Care

CLEVELAND- The air medical service at University Hospitals, UH AirMed, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) STAT MedEvac program have formalized a cooperative to facilitate launching the closest medical helicopter to scene run requests in the eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania region.

STAT MedEvac has staffed helicopter bases in Crawford, Erie, and Mercer counties in Pennsylvania, as well as Jefferson and Mahoning counties in Ohio. UH AirMed has staffed helicopter bases in Geauga and Medina counties. Both agencies receive requests from first responders in the Ohio-Pennsylvania bordering counties.

UH AirMed and STAT MedEvac are committed to providing patients requiring air medical services from a scene with the closest available medical helicopter. Regardless of which air medical dispatch center receives the flight request, the closest available resource will be launched. This formalized agreement is a natural succession and reinforcement of what has already been occurring between the two medical helicopter services.

Through this arrangement, UH AirMed and STAT MedEvac will be performing cooperative quality assurance reviews on each request and response to assure that the closest available aircraft was dispatched.

"The formalization of this cooperative with STAT MedEvac is focused on providing patients with rapid access to high-quality care and transport in critical situations," said Dan Ellenberger, Director of the University Hospitals Critical Care Transport, which includes the UH AirMed program.

"Just like our colleagues at UH AirMed, we are passionate about delivering the best care possible and want to make a difference in the lives of the patients we serve," said James Houser, President/CEO of The Center for Emergency Medicine, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit organization that oversees STAT MedEvac.

University Hospitals operates a regional network of state-designated trauma centers to meet the needs of injured patients in Northeast Ohio, and is a member of the Northern Ohio Trauma System (NOTS), along with Cleveland Clinic and The MetroHealth System. NOTS provides coordinated regional trauma care to patients throughout Cuyahoga County and the seven-county Northeast Ohio region.

UH's regional trauma network includes seven Level 3 Trauma Centers: UH Elyria, Geauga, Lake West, St. John, Parma and Portage medical centers, as well as Southwest General Health Center. UH Cleveland Medical Center and UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital are designated Level 1 Regional Trauma Centers. UH Rainbow is Cleveland's only Level I trauma center for children and adolescents, and has been a continuously verified Level 1 pediatric trauma center by the ACS for 25 years. Level 1 Trauma Centers provide leadership in education, research and system planning to ensure high-level care is accessible for any patient with complex and/or life-threatening injuries.