Medevac

Playing political football with the state's medical-evacuation helicopter fleet runs the risk of endangering people's lives. Yet that is what Gov. William Donald Schaefer has done. He has no one to blame but himself for this medevac madness.Mr. Schaefer had a chance earlier this year to put an end to a long-running dispute over providing medevac coverage for residents of the Upper Eastern Shore. The area now has a single-engine jet helicopter stationed at Centreville, but for safety reasons it no longer flies at night or in bad weather.

Fire officials in Harford County say a medevac helicopter was requested in Whiteford on Sunday after an 11-year-old boy reportedly crashed an ATV four-wheeler into a tree. The accident happened in the 4400 block of Slate Ridge Road. On Sunday afternoon, a member with the Whiteford Volunteer Fire Company said no further details were immediately available. This story will be updated. andrea.walker@baltsun.com Twitter.com/ankwalker Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts

Years after a multimillion-dollar contract to replace the state's fleet of aged medevac helicopters caused controversy in Annapolis, two newly purchased aircraft arrived Tuesday at the aviation command of the Maryland State Police. Four more are expected to fly into the police facility at Martin State Airport in Middle River this week, state police said — behind initial schedules for the new fleet's arrival. The four remaining AW139 helicopters of the 10 purchased by the state for $121.7 million also will arrive soon, said Greg Shipley, a state police spokesman.

Years after a multimillion-dollar contract to replace the state's fleet of aged medevac helicopters caused controversy in Annapolis, two newly purchased aircraft arrived Tuesday at the aviation command of the Maryland State Police. Four more are expected to fly into the police facility at Martin State Airport in Middle River this week, state police said — behind initial schedules for the new fleet's arrival. The four remaining AW139 helicopters of the 10 purchased by the state for $121.7 million also will arrive soon, said Greg Shipley, a state police spokesman.

Maryland officials on Friday unveiled the first of 10 new medevac helicopters the state ordered to replace its aging fleet, including some that are more than 20 years old. State leaders said the new helicopters, which are being delivered under a $121.7 million contact with Virginia-based AgustaWestland, include the latest in avionics and safety equipment. The new aircraft will replace the state's current fleet of 11 helicopters. Officials said the new aircraft will begin flying missions next year.

The Maryland Executive Helicopter Advisory Committee made the right decision Tuesday when it recommended buying two more high-speed medevac choppers to give around-the-clock service to injured residents of Southern Maryland and the upper shore. The $10 million price tag is a small price for enhanced emergency medical care.It was unfortunate, however, that Gov. William Donald Schaefer used the issue for political grandstanding in his dispute with legislators and Lt. Gov. Melvin Steinberg, who chairs the helicopter committee.

Maryland's medevac officials told state lawmakers Tuesday that they have addressed problems raised by a sharply critical audit and also upgraded equipment and procedures to improve safety after last year's fatal crash. The briefing came weeks before the anniversary of a Sept. 27 crash in Prince George's County that killed four people - the deadliest accident since Maryland State Police began flying the missions four decades ago. Maj. A. J. McAndrew said the aviation command is in the process of adopting all of the auditor recommendations.

A Maryland medevac pilot and would-be whistle-blower who was fired last week plans to appeal his dismissal from the Maryland State Police, union officials said yesterday. According to police, Peter Peterson was fired for refusing to cooperate with an internal safety probe stemming from his September warning to federal authorities that the police-operated medevac fleet was not safely operated. Peterson's e-mail to the U.S. Transportation Department's inspector-general came days before a helicopter crash killed four people in Prince George's County and led to a reform of the state emergency medical system's operations.

Funeral services have been set for the three rescuers who died in last weekend's fatal medevac crash in Charles County. A viewing will be held from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at the Gamber and Community Fire Co., Route 32 and Niner Road, Finksburg for Tfc. Mickey Lippy of Westminster. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the station, and burial will follow at Dulaney Memorial Gardens, 200 East Padonia Road, Timonium. Information: www.gambervfd.org. Services for the pilot, Stephen H. Bunker of Waldorf, will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday at South Potomac Church, 4915 Crain Highway, White Plains.

George Hoff was bleeding and unconscious the first time he encountered Maryland State Police Tfc. Chuck Smith. The second time, Mr. Hoff walked up, stuck out his hand and said: "From what the doctors said, you're the one who saved my life."That second meeting took place yesterday as several hundred people gathered at the state police aviation headquarters at Glenn L. Martin Airport in Middle River to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Maryland's helicopter rescue service.In that time, the MedEvac program -- now 11 helicopters at eight bases throughout the state -- has rapidly transported to hospitals more than 62,000 critically injured and ill people and become a nationwide model.

Maryland officials on Friday unveiled the first of 10 new medevac helicopters the state ordered to replace its aging fleet, including some that are more than 20 years old. State leaders said the new helicopters, which are being delivered under a $121.7 million contact with Virginia-based AgustaWestland, include the latest in avionics and safety equipment. The new aircraft will replace the state's current fleet of 11 helicopters. Officials said the new aircraft will begin flying missions next year.

A 13-year-old Woodlawn High School student was struck by a passenger vehicle near the school Monday morning and transported by Medevac to Maryland Shock Trauma Center with life-threatening injuries, according to the Baltimore County police department. Trayvon Shallomar Gore-Cromer, of the 1800 block of Alto Vista Avenue, was in serious condition Monday afternoon, said a Shock Trauma spokeswoman. Officers first responded to a call at 7:15 a.m. Monday about a male struck by a vehicle on Dogwood Road near the school, said Louise Rogers-Feher, a police spokeswoman.

The mother of a victim in the September 2008 Maryland State Police helicopter crash that killed four people near Andrews Air Force base filed suit against the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday, contending that the agency's air traffic controllers gave the pilot inaccurate weather information. The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt by Stephanie D. Younger of Waldorf, mother of crash victim Ashley Younger, is expected to be the last of several filed against the FAA, according to the law firm representing the plaintiff.

Maryland officials allege in a $4 million federal lawsuit against the U.S. government that performance failures by air-traffic controllers were a "substantial cause" of a 2008 medevac helicopter crash that killed four people near Andrews Air Force Base. In the lawsuit, the state and the helicopter's insurer allege that controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Administration failed to pay proper attention to the aircraft in heavy fog, disregarded requests for assistance from its pilot and provided outdated weather information.

The Maryland Board of Public Works approved a $72 million contract Wednesday to purchase six new helicopters — larger and faster than those the state police now fly — to begin the replacement of the state's emergency medical fleet. The three-member board unanimously ratified the contract with Agusta Aerospace Corp. of Philadelphia, the only company among four manufacturers that submitted a final bid. The contract includes an option for the state to acquire up to six more AW139 helicopters at the same price of $11.7 million each, plus an inflation adjustment.

Burial is set for VMI student from Highland 3 A 19-year-old Virginia Military Institute cadet from Highland who died after completing a 10-mile march at the school over the weekend will be buried Saturday in Clarksville. John Alexander Evans, a 2009 graduate of Mount St. Joseph High School in Irvington, died Saturday at a nearby hospital after collapsing in his barracks room at the Lexington, Va., school. Results of an autopsy could be released as early as next week, according to Col. Stewart MacInnis, a spokesman for VMI. Evans' family will receive visitors at Harry H. Witzki's Family Funeral Home, 4112 Old Columbia Pike in Ellicott City, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. today and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday.

ANNAPOLIS -- A committee headed by the lieutenant governor unanimously recommended yesterday that the state spend $10 million to purchase two more French-made medevac helicopters to be stationed permanently in Southern Maryland and on the upper Eastern Shore.The decision by the Maryland Executive Helicopter Advisory Committee, backed by a study that shows gaps in medevac coverage in those two rural areas, should end a political dispute that as recently as yesterday sparked a confrontation between Lt. Gov. Melvin A. Steinberg and his boss, Gov. William Donald Schaefer.

As I awakened last Sunday to an overcast sky, dense fog and a steady rain in Sussex County, Del., news of the crash of a Maryland State Police medevac helicopter brought back some very sad memories of an early Sunday morning 22 years ago. I was the chief spokesman for the Maryland State Police when the phone rang early on Jan. 19, 1986. It was the duty officer at state police headquarters calling to inform me of the disappearance of one of our medevac helicopters overnight and to request my assistance in the search.

American Eurocopter, the manufacturer of Maryland's medevac fleet, has dropped its protest of the state's bidding process to acquire new helicopters that are expected to cost more than $50 million. The company, which did not submit a bid, had filed a formal protest saying the process was flawed because it favored another company and would lead to the purchase of helicopters that are more expensive than necessary. The Maryland Department of Transportation denied American Eurocopter's protest last month.

A state police helicopter pilot's decision to make a rapid descent in an attempt to see better in fog was the chief cause of the medevac crash that killed four people last year near Andrews Air Force Base, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded. The board said Steven Bunker of Waldorf, who was killed in the Sept. 28, 2008, crash, failed to stop the descent at the proper altitude. The NTSB found no mechanical problems and determined that the helicopter's navigational instruments were working properly.