Transfer to Dhart

We had a cool call today. Working in conjunction with a helicopter ambulance is an everyday event for many EMTs, especially in the urban setting or deep rural such as in the western states. Here in our district, it's as rare an event as can be. We don't have a service anywhere near by, and for whatever reason, it just doesn't happen here. It's not uncommon for choppers to fly in and out of Fletcher Allen, but at NMC, never.

A local squad brought in a patient with CO poisoning and the ED doc determined that he needed a hyperbaric chamber for treatment. The nearest available was at Mass General, a good 5 hours away by ground ambulance, and less than 90 minutes by air. We were called to transfer the patient from the ED to the Landing Zone.

The patient was intubated and attended by a nurse and an RT. My partner Jodi and I assisted the transfer in the ED, with Jodi assisting with ventilations during the transfer of the ventilator. One we got going, I rode in the back, assisting ventilations and monitoring the ECG. We arrived about 5 minutes before Dhart (The Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital Air Rescue Team). Once on the ground, care was transferred to their flight nurse and paramedic. The FD assisted us in transferring the patient to the chopper stretcher. It was pretty cool. It was also neat to see once again the cross-service cooperation.