Crime & Safety

State Police: Efficiency Key to Medevac Success in Maryland

The periodic move from Martin State Airport in Middle River to Cecil County will help Maryland State Police determine how to best utilize its resources.

A fatal two-vehicle accident in Bel Air last week that required a helicopter to fly two survivors to Maryland Shock Trauma was typical of Harford County’s increasing reliance on emergency air medevac service.

There were 101 calls in Harford County for medevac service this year through July 19, according Maryland State Police figures. That puts the county well ahead of last year’s pace when the state police responded to 135 airlift trauma calls over 12 months.

“We’re definitely seeing a growing trend for more calls for service in the area,” said Rich Gardiner, spokesman for the Harford County Volunteer Fire and Emergency Medical Service Association.

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The increase in Harford County calls has prompted Maryland State Police to , the state police aviation command, to northwestern Cecil County during peak hours this summer from its normal base at Martin State Airport in Middle River. 

Cecil County's needs are also a factor for the temporary redeployment. Last year, Cecil County required state police helicopter service 136 times for medical, rescue and law enforcement purposes.

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“We are constantly evaluating how to best utilize our fleet of helicopters,” said Lt. Walter Kerr, commander of state police helicopter operations. “It’s all about finding the best way of maximizing our resources to ensure we can assist the most people possible."

Kerr said the decision to move the helicopters was made in large part because there is no trauma center within a 30-minute drive in most of Harford County; in many cases, the closest is Delaware’s Christiana Hospital. Proximity is a key factor paramedics consider when deciding to call for medevac assistance.

Public safety officials say that while the base of emergency air operations is experiencing some shift to the north, Baltimore County—which had 210 state police helicopter calls of all types in 2010 and 144 this year through July 19—will not suffer.

Baltimore County has four trauma centers within reasonable driving distance—Johns Hopkins, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Sinai Hospital and the University of Maryland Medical Center where Shock Trauma is located.

In addition, the Baltimore County Police Department has its own helicopter for search and law enforcement missions.  Harford and Cecil counties do not have that option and depend on Maryland State Police for those air services.

“In most cases, paramedics in Baltimore County can reach a trauma center via ground within 30 minutes,” Kerr said. “There are times, especially during search-and-rescue missions, where those in Harford and Cecil counties don’t even bother to call (the state police) because they know it will take too long for help to arrive.”

Gardiner, the spokesman for the Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association, said the shift in helicopter operations is welcomed, even if it’s only temporary.

“We’d like to see a permanent facility be established here as long as it also doesn’t negatively impact other counties,” Gardiner said.

Kerr said the state police would study data from the summer to determine the effectiveness of the temporary redeployment and whether a permanent base in Harford County will be explored.

So far, Kerr and officials from the Baltimore County Fire Department have said that there has been no negative impact on air service calls in Baltimore County since the move.

“We are not concerned about the transfers and it has not altered how we answer calls,” Baltimore County Fire Department spokesman Elise Armacost said.

Kerr said a reason Baltimore County should not experience air service difficulties is that Martin State Airport serves as a hub for medevac helicopters throughout the state. That means aircraft are constantly using the airport to refuel, receive supplies and deal with repairs, and are available to handle calls within the county.

Also, since medevac helicopters from other parts of the state routinely fly into one of the Baltimore trauma centers, there is usually an aircraft near Baltimore County that can respond to calls.

Kerr said that the state demonstrated its commitment to the medevac program—which has transported more than 130,000 patients since it began in 1970—when the state Board of Public Works in October approved spending $72.2 million to replace six of the state’s 11 helicopters.

Eight of the aircraft in use are more than 20 years old. The six new helicopters should be in operation within two years, he said.

“No one in the field has ever made a decision on how much something costs,” Kerr said. “Unlike other states that rely on private helicopter transports, our medevac is a service for the citizens.

"At the same time, we are always analyzing our practices and if moving our helicopters around is what we need to do to best serve the citizens then that is what we’ll do.”

U.S. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger is one of the medevac program’s most enthusiastic boosters. The Baltimore County Democrat credits medevac, along with the medical staff at Shock Trauma, for saving his life after a near-fatal car accident in 1975.

“Maryland has been on the cutting edge of trauma care for decades in large part due to the medevac program and Shock Trauma,” Ruppersberger said. “I’m alive today because of them and I want Maryland and the state police to remain national leaders in this field.”


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