CORDELE – Even though we may not like to think about it, bad things sometimes happen.

People perish everyday in car accidents or from heart attacks, strokes, or other medical conditions. When the unthinkable happens, often time is of the essence. The “golden hour” is considered to be the time between a traumatic injury and advanced medical care.

Though there is no substitution for ambulances, due to the time and traffic, times do arise where transport by ambulance may not be helpful. When those moments arise we look to the sky. The Air Evac Lifeteam provides red, white and blue helicopters which are air ambulances designed to transport trauma patients to any number of facilities in the coverage area.

“We are a three man crew,” says Tracy Burns of the Air Evac Lifeteam, which now has a base in Cordele at the Cordele Airport. “There are crew pilots, paramedics, and nurses. We are not a replacement for a ground ambulance. We do the same things. We just use a faster method. A transport that may take a ground ambulance an hour takes us about half that time.”

Burns says there are some differences between air and ground ambulances. The amount of space to work in is a great deal smaller. In an air ambulance there is only about 4 1/2 by 7 feet of work space.

“Our work is done at an altitude of 1,500 ft at 140 mph,” said Burns “We also have to take altitude into consideration because of the air pressure. When we have a stroke or head injury victim, we have to fly at a lower altitude or complications could arise.”

Another difference and probably the most important is that ground ambulances do not have to consider weight as a factor when transporting patients. The Air Evac team must know the weight of each patient and all the equipment utilized in flight.

“Even when we are adding new equipment before transport it has to be factored in. Balance is also important,” said Burns. “The weight and balance are the first pieces of information we obtain when a call comes in. Then we pass it on to the pilot.”

Burns says it is also important to know whether the patient is a victim of trauma or if it is a medical situation. When transporting a patient by air ambulance rather than ground, the team must consider the weather. The on-duty pilot always checks the weather, but the team will launch as long as they are capable of reaching their destination.

Most of the pilots who fly with the Air Evac Lifeteam are former military. They are required to have at least 2,000 hours of helicopter time. They also must have 500 night time hours.

Pilots are only allowed 14 hours of time with patient transfers. Once a pilot reaches that 14th hour, it is mandatory that the crew stop until the pilot is cleared to be in the air again.

Pilots with the Air Evac do not handle any of the medical sides of the operation. That is left to the paramedics and nurses in flight.

“Nurses work 24 on and 48 off,” said Kim Whitley. “Nurses and paramedics are required to have a minimum of three years in a critical care patient area. They also must pass a series of tests and submit to an interview. Next they spend 2 weeks at the critical care academy. The first 30 flights are orientation flights.”

“We are happy to be in Cordele,” said Burns. “We look forward to helping serve the community.”

The Air Evac Lifeteam currently operates over 80 bases, mostly in rural areas.