Down Time Trauma Star helicopter saves lives, but is often unable to fly

 

By John L. Guerra

The $3.7 million machine can land just about anywhere in the Keys. In the 11 years since it came to Monroe County from Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa., the county’s Trauma Star medical evacuation helicopter, a 1982 Sikorsky S-76A, has been credited with saving the lives of hundreds of car accident victims and patients in need of specialized medical care at hospitals on the mainland.

Yet, like any other specialized aircraft, the 32-year-old Trauma Star helicopter breaks down, must be inspected for airworthiness and undergo routine maintenance of engine fluids, replacing of filters and worn parts.

Trauma Star was unable to fly one month out of the last six months of 2013, maintenance records show.

According to repair and maintenance records provided by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, which maintains and flies the helicopter, the medical evacuation helicopter was out of service 719 hours in the six months from June 1 to Dec. 31, 2013. That is equivalent to just about a month of flying time: There are 720 hours in a 30-day month.

Keep in mind that parts often have to be ordered, which adds to the time it takes to repair the helicopter. Also, repairs have to be inspected and approved before the helicopter can fly again.

Here are the highlights; instances not mentioned are for routine maintenance.

  • · On June 13, a torque transmitter failed, leading to 30 hours of downtime.
  • · On July 12, the helicopter went down for 192 hours, or eight days, so mechanics could install a new engine barrier filter.
  • Starting Aug. 14, Trauma Star was down for 30 hours so mechanics could repair an upper door hinge that had failed.
  • · Starting Aug. 15, a rotor brake caliper leak counted for 28 hours of downtime.
  • · Starting Oct. 30, the helicopter was down for 312 hours, or 13 days, for routine annual maintenance.
  • · On Nov. 14, Trauma Star went down for 10 hours because its transponder failed.
  • · Trauma Star was down for 99 hours (4.1 days) starting Dec. 5 because a winter storm delayed delivery of a part to fix the fuel control system.
  • · Also in December, the helicopter was down for 7 hours for airframe and engine inspection.

When Trauma Star can’t fly, another medivac helicopter in the Keys — LifeNet — pitches in to fly accident victims and other badly injured or sick patients to Miami and other hospitals on the mainland.

A medical staff member at the Lower Keys Medical Center, who asked not to be identified, said he’s not aware of anyone dying for lack of helicopter transport. However, the staff member said the Trauma Star helicopter has been unavailable at key times.

Though Monroe County owns Trauma Star and Sheriff’s Office mechanics maintain and repair the helicopter, the hospital relies on Trauma Star to transfer its patients to hospitals on the mainland when patients need more specialized care.

Sometimes, however, neither helicopter is available.

“This person had a serious cardiac situation; it was extremely critical, life or death. I mean it was as serious as it gets, life threatening,” the staff member said. “There was no helicopter available because LifeNet helicopter had taken another patient out, and the Trauma Star helicopter was down, or not available for some reason.”

According to the staff member, the patient had to be driven by ambulance to the mainland for treatment. He survived, the staff member said.

He told of another day when neither helicopter was available:

“The issue here is we had two trauma alerts within a couple of hours, one at mile marker 83 and one in Key West, and for the next couple of hours we were dead in the water.”

“There was another situation, a trauma alert, the patient was very critical,” he said. “Trauma Star was called, but Trauma Star was down. LifeNet flew him out.”

Becky Herrin, spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office, said Trauma Star is a complex machine that receives regular maintenance. Like other aircraft, it sometimes breaks down.

“Think of it as a car,” she said. “You have routine maintenance, and sometimes unexpected things happen and parts have to be replaced. This is really no different except that we have to be even more careful. If a car stops running on the highway, you can park it on the side of the road and deal with it. You never want a helicopter to stop running when you are ‘driving’ it, so you have to make sure you take care of all potential issues before they happen. Lots of inspections and preemptive repairs.”

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