Maryland's emergency medical helicopters could fly fewer accident victims to hospitals without reducing survival or affecting quality of care for patients, a panel of experts told state officials yesterday.
Several panel members also questioned the size of Maryland's state-run helicopter fleet, which numbered 12 aircraft before a fatal crash Sept. 28, and the need for the state's eight regional medevac helicopter bases. The group, convened in response to the crash in Prince George's County that killed four people, called for a task force to reconsider how many aircraft Maryland needs and where they should be located.
The report stopped short of calling for a specific number of helicopters and bases, or making a precise recommendation on how many of Maryland's 4,100 annual medevac flights might be excessive. But the findings could have implications for a $120 million proposal to replace Maryland's state-run medevac helicopter fleet, a plan under way before the crash.
Del. Norman H. Conway, a Wicomico County Democrat who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said the panel's recommendations and a budget-slashing mood in Annapolis would trigger reconsideration of both the scope and timing of the helicopter replacement plan. But Conway, among the strongest medevac backers in the General Assembly, said he still believes the system is crucial to his constituents on the lower Eastern Shore.
"I would want to have a good, complete, full discussion" before making any decisions, Conway said.
Rick Abbruzzese, a spokesman for Gov. Martin O'Malley, said it was "too soon to tell" whether the panel's findings would affect the governor's continued support of the replacement plan.
"The governor is committed to the Medevac program," Abbruzzese said. "This will continue to be a topic of debate and discussion in Annapolis."
State emergency medical officials formed the seven-member panel in part to address criticism that the system flies too many patients unnecessarily - often a heated subject in Maryland, whose pioneering trauma center was the first to champion the "golden hour" concept of rapid medical transport. Two accident victims involved in the recent crash initially had no apparent injuries but were flown based on a protocol that also considers the condition of an accident victim's vehicle.
