Click here to view photos of PHI's visit.
On Saturday, 25 October a crew from PHI brought their helicopter to the Pendleton County Extension Office.
Most times when PHI lands a helicopter it is to take a critically ill or injured patient to the hospital. On this day however, their mission was to provide some training and familiarization with their operation to a variety of the County’s first responders.
A PHI crew consisting of a Flight Nurse, Paramedic and Pilot came to Pendleton County to speak with 40 members of various emergency response agencies. Department members from Pendleton County Emergency Management, Pendleton County Dispatch, Falmouth Fire Department, Northern Pendleton Fire Department and Ambulance Service, the Butler Community Volunteer Fire Department, Pendleton County Ambulance Service, Pendleton County Search and Rescue, and Transcare were all in attendance.
The crew started out by providing classroom instruction going over various operational aspects of the Air Ambulance. Ambulance crews became familiar with medical and patient information while fire departments were informed on the technicalities of landing a helicopter and how best to set up a Landing Zone.
The pilot let all the departments know that PHI’s number one mission was to help the patient and that his crew and everyone in the room had a servant’s heart or they wouldn’t be in this line of work. He emphasized the best way to do that was for everyone in the room to work together as a team.
After the classroom session, everyone went outside to the helicopter. There the crew opened up the aircraft for all to see and each gave a very detailed explanation of its capabilities. After everyone examined the helicopter inside and out and had all their questions answered, the crew boarded, lifted off and headed back to their base in Williamstown.
All the department members came away from this experience much more knowledgeable of the entire operation of an Air Ambulance. And more knowledgeable first responders, mean better cared for patients.