GALION, Ohio — “I love helping people,” said a MedFlight paramedic. Taking to the skies recently with flight paramedics provided insight into how MedFlight paramedics do just that.
Bill Huffman and Dale Muetzel are in the business of saving lives all around Ohio. Huffman is a longtime paramedic, Muetzal a nurse and paramedic. They work long shifts together, eagerly awaiting their next chance to help an individual in need.
MedFlight 5 is located in Galion off state Route 309. Their base consists of a helicopter pad and a ranch-type house that keeps supplies and rooms for the crew. They are one of the eight MedFlight bases in Ohio.
To be a MedFlight paramedic
“This should be an old hat by the time you’re with MedFlight. It’s not a first go-around,” said Muetzel, a 17-year MedFlight veteran. He first became a nurse in 1988 then decided to become a paramedic, a potent combo for personnel onboard medical helicopters.
MedFlight helicopters operate with a three person team: a nurse, a paramedic and a seasoned pilot.
According to Huffman, MedFlight, when hiring flight paramedics, prefer candidates who have at least five years of critical care experience in an area with a high volume of 911 calls. The reason, he explained, is because they work with equipment not normally carried on a 911 ambulance.
“That’s what the difference is. And that is something that you have to go above and beyond to get trained on,” said Huffman.
There are weeks of training to undergo once hired as a MedFlight paramedic. They want to make certain that their flight paramedics and nurses are prepared for the high stress situations.
“You got to be ready for whatever. Also, aggressive enough to make decisions on the fly,” said Muetzel.
A typical shift
Huffman said the team could go out on three or four calls in a shift. Other days, there may be no calls.
For nurse and paramedic teams of two, a shift normally lasts 24 hours. They each have a room outfitted with a twin-sized bed, a bathroom, closet and desk with a computer.
For pilots, a shift lasts 12 and 24 hours. They too, have a room at the base.
There is no such thing as a typical shift, according to pilot Stew Pitou. “A lot of it is on-the-fly stuff, you know? So you kind of have to plan it as you go, work it out as you go,” said Pitou.
Pitou piloted Apaches in the military before joining MedFlight in January 2015. The jobs are similar, but Pitou said he enjoys the challenge of making decisions in tough situations that arise during a MedFlight call.
“The military kinda de-programs you from that. They try not to let you think too much on your own, you know?” said Pitou with a laugh.
Each day when a new crew starts a shift, the pilot gives them a brief on the weather. The weather plays a major factor in the team’s ability to respond to certain calls. If the weather is bad enough, it might mean rejecting a call.
After the briefing, the team waits. During that wait, the pilot monitors the weather on an online governmental weather station. It issues frequent updates on specific weather patterns for MedFlight 5’s (their base) 50 square-mile flight area.
They have one telephone in the pilot’s office. If it rings; it means “go time.” The call comes from MedComm — their dispatch center in Columbus — and details the exact location, situation and patient specifics. A flight usually lasts around three hours, said Huffman.
Flight
Once receiving that call, the team has 10 minutes to load up and fly to their destination.
“We have a good rhythm and there’s a good flow with what we do; we have chemistry in that way,” said Pitou.
While the pilot decisively recites the call’s scenario, the crew gears up — grabbing their helmets and zipping their suits, grabbing pens and notepads. Then they swiftly walk, sometimes run, to the helicopter. The pilot executes his memorized checklist for the engine and checks the onboard communications interface.
The crew double-checks their medical supplies, fastens them to straps inside the cockpit.
All the while, the team of three is in constant communication. Their main concerns: safety and efficiency.
“We talk about safety more than we talk about patients,” said Huffman. “Speed is important, but efficiency is more important.”
Once the team makes sure all the doors are securely fastened, the pilot flicks on the rotors. Once in the air, the team stays quiet and alert during Critical Phase, a couple minutes after take-off and before the landing.
“The pilot needs to focus on communications from other planes and helicopters — air traffic,” said Huffman. The pilot and crew scans their immediate area for other air traffic, including birds and wires.
“That’s our world that we work in,” said Pitou. “It’s a little different than typical airport life.”
The job
“Sometimes people die on us, that’s tough,” said Muetzal. But, he explained, that’s why there is so much training and keeping up with the medical field. “It (the demands of the job) will burn you out. But you have to have a way to vent, to cope,” he added.
Although demanding, the crew’s jobs are rewarding. They are helping people, which is what they love to do.
“It sounds cornish, but it isn’t. I treat my patients like they’re my family member. If I was sick, I’d want me to take care of it,” said Huffman.
According to Huffman and Muetzel, the patients they respond to are always in life threatening situations, but only 40 percent of those calls are trauma related. The majority of calls they receive are medical transports.
“Whatever the situation, our goal is to put the patient at ease,” said Muetzel. “The patient might be freaking out; we’ve got to keep them calm. You know, it’s just another day for us, but it might be the worst day for them.”
With a combined 31 years as flight medics, Huffman and Quetzal have experienced high-stress medical situations. They have delivered babies, transported organs and severed limbs, treated gunshot wounds and burned skin, performed life-saving procedures — all while in the air.
“When you’ve seen just about everything, it’s not like you’ve seen it all. You know that you can take care of it. And actually I feel like my pulse rate drops, I’m in my zone — and I love that,” Huffman said.
