A sharply critical legislative audit of the state's medevac operation could jeopardize the General Assembly's willingness to spend more than $100 million on overhauling the state police unit's aging 12-helicopter fleet, a key lawmaker said yesterday.
According to the audit report, about a third of the state's emergency medical response helicopter fleet was out of service for 51 individual days during the past fiscal year, and the state police Aviation Command didn't adequately track critical data such as maintenance needs and the cost per flight hour.
Moreover, because of data reliability problems, auditors could not verify state police claims that about 95 percent of flights bring patients to the hospital within the so-called "golden hour," a crucial time frame for emergency medical care.
"You'd sure like to think they're taking care of taxpayers' money a little better than it appears," said Sen. John C. Astle, an Anne Arundel County Democrat and retired helicopter pilot who sits on the committee that commissioned the audit. "I think there are going to be some pretty serious questions. ... I could see where the General Assembly might say, 'Wait a second, we're not willing to give you that kind of money until we have strong assurances it's going to be used in a particular way.' "
A September hearing about the audit is scheduled before the Joint Audit Committee, which requested the review last year amid concerns about aging aircraft and employee complaints of high turnover, low salaries and limited advancement opportunities at the Aviation Command, said Del. Steven J. DeBoy, co-chairman of the committee.
DeBoy, a Baltimore County Democrat and retired police officer, said he expected "tough questions" at the hearing but praised the medevac unit's cooperation with the audit and emphasized his strong belief that the helicopters ought to be replaced as soon as possible. "I don't doubt for one second they need to be replaced," DeBoy said. "This is a public safety issue."
Bruce A. Myers, the state's chief auditor, said the 98-page report should raise questions about the reliability of the Aviation Command's claims that its entire helicopter fleet ought to be replaced with new aircraft - an overhaul budgeted by the General Assembly at about $120 million over the next four years.
"I think there's a strong indication that you probably need some new [helicopters] but I don't know if you can tell the extent of that need," Myers said. "Is 12 the right number? I don't know. How bad are the 12 you have now? They don't have those kinds of records."
