Medevac

A 14-year-old boy was seriously injured last night during a youth league football game played at Loch Haven Park in Mayo, an Anne Arundel Fire Department spokesman said.Lt. Robert Rose said the boy, whose name was not released, was tackled from behind by another player.The boy, complaining of tingling arms and fingers, was flown by state police MedEvac helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was being treated for possible neck injuries, Rose said.

A Westminster man saved his 2 1/2 -year-old son from a weekend drowning in a backyard pool, authorities said.Andrew E. Rowe, of the 1000 block of Sullivan Road, was found unconscious in about two feet of water at 3: 37 p.m. Sunday, state police said.Aided by a 911 dispatcher's instructions given over the phone to his wife, Donald Rowe performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation. When emergency personnel arrived, Andrew was conscious and crying, and they worked to raise his temperature from 87.1 degrees Fahrenheit, officials said.

A teen-age boy shot in the throat with an air rifle yesterday in Union Mills was the victim of an apparent accident, state police in Westminster said.The boy was wounded about 4: 05 p.m. by a friend at a home in the 4100 block of Rinehart Road, a police spokesman said. The injury did not appear life-threatening, the spokesman said.The boys, about 16 or 17, were not named because of their ages, police said.Medical workers immediately requested a state MedEvac helicopter, but flights were grounded by poor weather, police said.

A 2-year-old boy was injured early yesterday evening when he fell from a second-floor window of his home in the Murray Hills section of Laurel, said a spokesman for the Howard County Fire Department.Capt. Mike Baker, the spokesman, said the incident occurred at 5: 43 p.m. in the 8300 block of Mary Lee Lane and that the child was flown by state police MedEvac helicopter to Childrens Hospital in Washington, where he was treated for bruises and lacerations.It was not immediately known whether the child was admitted to the hospital or discharged, Baker said.

The calls started coming into the county's Emergency Operations Center at 5:36 p.m. Wednesday.Multiple vehicle crash. Serious injuries. People trapped.The three dispatchers on duty pieced together bits of information from panicked observers trying to describe the harrowing scene on Route 140 about three miles east of Taneytown."We just went with the information we had; people were saying it was serious, and we were taking them at their word," said Debbie L. Burke, a shift supervisor with the emergency communications center.

An 11-year-old Carroll County boy died yesterday at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore after he was struck by a car while riding his bike on Ridge Road near Taylorsville, state police reported.Jonathan Thompson of the 3600 block of Ridge Road had left Little George's convenience store in the 3400 block of Ridge about 3: 15 p.m. and was pedaling in the southbound lane when he was struck from behind by a 1982 Dodge Challenger driven by Erica Light, 20, of Woodbine.Police said the boy, riding toward his home about a quarter-mile away, apparently did not judge the speed of the approaching car when he entered the heavily traveled roadway.

A Baltimore roofer who was struck by an industrial crane's boom while working at the Springfield Hospital Center was in critical but stable condition yesterday afternoon at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, a hospital spokeswoman said.Robert W. Arbogast Jr., 46, was working atop the geriatric building at the Sykesville hospital about 9: 10 a.m. when a crane being used to lift materials to the roof broke free from its mounting, said Libby Luebberman, assistant chief of the Sykesville Fire Company.

One parent's gratitude to MedEvac systemYour article about the State Police MedEvac program Sept. 11 came out the day after my 6-year-old son was flown in one of its helicopters to the Johns Hopkins Children's Center for possible back/neck/brain injury.Patrick fell six to seven feet off the top of an inflatable moon walk apparatus our neighbors had rented for their son's birthday party.I was the first adult to reach Patrick; he was unconscious. . . . Perhaps all the advanced First Aid I took way back in college took over.

Two employees of a Scan furniture outlet in a Columbia industrial park were shot during a robbery attempt just after they closed the store yesterday, Howard County police said.Police said the incident was the second shooting reported this year in Howard County.The employees had set the burglar alarm and locked the building in the Guilford Industrial Center in the 9400 block of Gerwig Lane when two masked men approached and forced them back inside at gunpoint about 5:20 p.m., police said.The bandits demanded to know where the cash register was, police said.

Two women were knocked unconscious after their car was sideswiped Sunday night on Old Westminster Pike by a hit-and-run driver and careened into a field, striking a tree, state police said.Rescue crews had to force the doors open to remove the victims, who were taken to Baltimore trauma centers for treatment.Police said the driver of a 1988 Dodge Shadow was eastbound in the 900 block of Old Westminster Pike and was hit by an oncoming vehicle about 9:40 p.m.Tammy Sue Marks, 30, of the 1500 block of E. Joppa Road near Towson was flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center by state police MedEvac helicopter.

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.

The manufacturer of Maryland's medevac helicopters is protesting the state's effort to replace the aging fleet, alleging that the bidding process favors another company and would add to the program's cost. State officials have budgeted more than $50 million to buy new helicopters, and bids from manufacturers were due last month. American Eurocopter has filed a formal protest with the state Department of Transportation, which is overseeing the procurement of the aircraft, and wrote a letter to Gov. Martin O'Malley.

Steele chides GOP for infighting Embattled Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele lashed out at GOP infighting Tuesday and urged the party faithful - some of whom have criticized his erratic statements - to be more like him: "unconventional, unpredictable ... to do from time to time the unexpected." At a fundraiser for the Anne Arundel County Republican Party that raised $36,000, the former Maryland lieutenant governor jokingly acknowledged the rough road he has traveled since taking over the national party this year.

Facing strong opposition in the General Assembly, proponents of reforming or privatizing Maryland's embattled medevac system are hoping to delay the purchase of new helicopters that state police have been requesting for years. Senators are scheduled to debate today a bipartisan bill that would require the governor to consider allowing a private company to take over the police-run helicopter transport system, which has been under scrutiny since a fatal crash in September and a critical legislative audit last year.

Make better use of rescue copters I read "Assessing medevac control" (March 5) with great interest, and I concur with House Speaker Michael E. Busch that the draft report of the House of Delegates' study panel on the medevac fleet was absolutely premature. I encourage the speaker to have his "EMS Workgroup" dig further, and assess the flawed trauma/EMS governance structure as it relates to all the helicopter rescue resource within the state. I believe they would find plenty of untapped helicopter capacity that could offer significant benefit to citizens.

Police officials launched an emotional defense of Maryland's state-run medevac system yesterday, which faces a privatization initiative from General Assembly critics whose case for reform has been bolstered by a recent fatal crash and critical audit. A routine legislative briefing about Gov. Martin O'Malley's budget proposal to purchase two new helicopters turned into a heated exchange yesterday between the police major in charge of the medevac fleet and Sen. E.J. Pipkin, an Eastern Shore Republican who wants to require the police to compete for the job with private services.

A new proposal to create a Cabinet-level department to oversee Maryland's emergency medical services is no remedy for what ails the trauma care system. The idea, as floated by two legislators, sounds more like a grandiose prescription for trouble - and a scheme to privatize the state-run medevac helicopter service. The Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems has come under scrutiny since a state police helicopter crashed in Prince George's County in September while en route to a trauma center.

Maryland should create a Cabinet-level department to oversee emergency services and consider allowing a private company to run the state's helicopter transport fleet, say two lawmakers who pledged yesterday to spearhead reform during the legislative session that begins next month. Maryland's medevac system for ferrying accident victims is expected to come under renewed scrutiny by the General Assembly after a September crash in Prince George's County killed four people. Sen. John C. Astle, an Anne Arundel County Democrat and retired helicopter pilot who flew medevac missions, and Sen. E.J. Pipkin, an Eastern Shore Republican, are working on legislation to overhaul the beleaguered system.

8 finalists to design, build Station North bike racks Judges have selected eight finalists, including three Maryland Institute College of Art students, to design and build eight one-of-a-kind bike racks to be installed by next spring in Baltimore's Station North district. The designs were submitted as part of the Station North Bike Rack Project, a competition held this fall to help raise the bike rack to an art form and make Baltimore a more bike-friendly city. A public display of the 79 designs will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 12 at 20 W. North Ave. The winners will each receive $4,000 to execute their designs for locations to be determined.

State emergency medical officials said yesterday that some ambulance crews in Maryland are "skittish" since a fatal medevac helicopter crash in September and might be too reluctant to transport accident victims to the hospital by air. The concern was raised as members of an expert panel exploring the state's emergency medical system said they will take a critical look at the state's heavy reliance on helicopter transport. One even challenged the "golden hour" dictum born in Maryland that says patients should reach a hospital within an hour of injury.