Medevac Helicopter

A Baltimore County man was killed early yesterday when his car crashed into a guardrail on Interstate 83 near Hereford, flipped over several times and ejected him, state police said.Ronald Lamont Scott, 24, of the 3800 block of Oak Ave. in Lochearn was traveling north on I-83 at Mount Carmel Road shortly after 3 a.m. when he drove onto the shoulder and struck the guardrail, said Sgt. James Forbes of the Golden Ring barracks.Scott's 1996 Geo Metro then veered into the median and rolled several times, ejecting him, before it came to a stop in the southbound lanes, where it was hit by a 1999 Ford pickup truck, Forbes said.

It is just past 5 o'clock on a sultry Friday afternoon when the phone chirps softly in the Maryland State Police aviation unit at Strawberry Point. Paramedic Phillip Scott answers, replies, "En route," and moves quickly with pilot Norman Molter toward the gleaming black and green helicopter.In less than six minutes, they're airborne in Trooper One, Maryland's newest MedEvac helicopter, whirring away from eastern Baltimore County toward a messy traffic accident on the Eastern Shore."That's the scene up there," Scott says to Molter, pointing at the flashing lights of police cars and ambulances -- and a traffic backup of beach-bound motorists that stretches for miles.

Two men accused of auto manslaughter in the death of a Westminster woman last week were released yesterday from the Carroll County Detention Center after posting $25,000 bail, court records show.Frederick H. Hensen Jr., 21, of Westminster was arrested Friday. Scott D. Broadfoot Sr., 25, of Parkville was arrested Monday. Both men were charged with negligent auto manslaughter, reckless and negligent driving, participating in a speed contest and related charges.Broadfoot also was charged with failing to remain at the accident scene.

Frank Douglas, a 37-year-old jockey injured Sunday during a race at Timonium, has improved since being transported by MedEvac helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center and is now listed in serious condition.He suffered a fractured skull and brain injuries after being thrown by his mount in a vicious spill on the backstretch."He's doing much better," his wife, Pamela, said yesterday. "He's feeding himself. He's remembering more."She said that his long-term prognosis is undetermined, but that he will require rehabilitation.

A truck driver hauling logs for a Westminster tree and stump removal company was severely injured yesterday morning when his truck overturned near Eldersburg and slid into a utility pole, state police said.Dwaine F. Claypool, 31, of the 2100 block of Kauffman Road, New Windsor, was taken by state MedEvac helicopter to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore where he was in critical condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.Police said Claypool was traveling south on Mineral Hill Road when he apparently lost control in the 5800 block while trying to negotiate a sharp curve.

Two Carroll County residents injured in unrelated accidents Monday remained in critical condition yesterday, hospital spokeswomen said.In the first incident, Russell G. Hogan, 55, of Lineboro was burned when vapors from a solvent he was using to strip wax from a kitchen floor ignited after a family member turned on a gas stove about 6: 30 p.m., state fire marshals said.Hogan suffered second- and third-degree burns over about 90 percent of his body, fire marshals said.He was taken to Baltimore Regional Burn Center at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

Hoping to shock students into sobriety on prom night, Mount Hebron High School staged an alcohol-related car crash yesterday complete with a MedEvac helicopter, demolished cars and bloodied accident victims."

Ralph Hylton paused at a traffic light on the Eastern Shore. Thirty miles away, the crew of a Maryland State Police MedEvac helicopter cleaned up after dinner in a drab office in a hangar at Martin State Airport in Middle River.It was 8:20 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 27, an unspectacular day closing one of summer's final weekends. Then suddenly, Mr. Hylton was slammed against the driver's door of his small pickup truck and whipped across into the caved-in passenger side. Within minutes, a call went out for one of the state's 11 MedEvac helicopters, sending Trooper One to the rescue.

The 23-year-old driver of a 1988 Ford Mustang was killed and two of his passengers were severely injured when the car crashed into the rear of a truck on Route 140 in Finksburg early yesterday.Reginald Allen Byrns Jr., of the 300 block of Buck Cash Drive, was pronounced dead at the accident scene on Baltimore Boulevard near Dede Road after the 12:55 a.m. crash.His body was taken to the state medical examiner's office in Baltimore for an autopsy.Both passengers were flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, according to state police.

Three people were injured Wednesday night when their car veered off the roadway and hit a tree in Oakland Mills, Howard County police said.Police said the driver apparently failed to handle a sharp curve in the northbound lane of Oakland Mills Road near Old Montgomery Road around 10 p.m.The 1986 Grand Am then crossed the center line and rolled onto a grassy area on the opposite side of the road, where it struck a tree.Police say early review of the accident suggests that the passengers may not have been wearing seat belts.

Attempts to overhaul and possibly privatize the state's emergency medical system appear likely to fail this year after a legislative panel's full-throated endorsement of continued state police control of Maryland's medical helicopter program. A 14-member House of Delegates study panel voted unanimously yesterday to recommend that state police maintain operation of the medevac fleet and that the aging helicopters be replaced at a pace faster than that proposed by Gov. Martin O'Malley. The panel called for additional legislative scrutiny of the state EMS system.

A House of Delegates study panel is moving closer to calling for continued state police control over Maryland's medevac fleet, according to a draft report obtained yesterday by The Baltimore Sun. The draft report also endorses replacing the state's aging fleet with three new $20 million aircraft a year, starting next year. House Speaker Michael E. Busch called the draft report "absolutely" premature yesterday and said it was an early step in a broad assessment of the state's emergency medical services system.

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.

Brenda Arbogast was one of those mothers who swore her son would never play football. Fearful of injury, and not knowing much about the sport, she was completely against the idea until a trusted friend convinced her it would be OK. Many years later, with her son's playing days long behind him, the 48-year-old full-time accounting assistant is not only still a fan of the game she grew to love, but now spends much of her free time supporting it at the...

A woman and a child were killed and four other people were injured last night in a crash involving three vehicles on Harford County's Bel Air Bypass. The accident occurred about 5 p.m. on U.S. 1 just north of the Vale Road overpass. It took rescue workers until nearly 9 p.m. to retrieve the woman's body from the Saturn Relay minivan, said Elena Russo, a state police spokeswoman. According to Russo, Christopher Lentz, 37, of Glen Arm was southbound on the shoulder of the road when he lost control of his Jeep Cherokee.

Winds force grounding of medevac helicopter A Maryland State Police medevac helicopter made an emergency landing yesterday in a field near Route 543 in Abingdon, authorities said. One patient aboard the aircraft was taken by another helicopter to a hospital, said state police spokesman Greg Shipley. There were no injuries. Heavy winds forced the helicopter to land about 3:30 p.m., Shipley said, and it remained grounded for about three hours. After technicians performed maintenance work, the helicopter returned to service and was flown to Martin State Airport.

Independent review of medevac protocols The Baltimore Sun's editorial "A smart review" (Oct. 8) threw up a red flag concerning the planned reassessment of protocols for medevac flights. In June 2004, the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems invited the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to perform a reassessment of Maryland's trauma and emergency medicine systems. NHTSA issued a "report card" on MIEMSS that suggested its regulatory oversight of the system was incomplete, and made 54 recommendations on the optimum effectiveness of the medevac system.

Wearing a red satin prom dress lined with sequins, and shiny white high-heeled shoes, Ashley Smith lay motionless on the pavement outside Liberty High School as sirens wailed and a medevac helicopter approached from the distance. In an "accident" staged by local officials, Smith had been ejected from a car driven by a drunken friend after it collided with another vehicle, and paramedics were working to try to save her life. The dramatization was coordinated by school officials, local fire departments and the Maryland State Police to show students the consequences of drinking and driving.

JOPPATOWNE - Rush-hour traffic came to a halt yesterday after an accident on Route 152 near Franklinville Road closed the road from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m., police said. The accident occurred at 7:55 a.m. when a southbound 2002 Hyundai Sonata driven by Mark Chapman of Bel Air crossed the center line on Route 152 and collided head-on with a 1997 International tractor pulling a semitrailer, according to police. The accident is being investigated. Chapman, 43, was flown by MedEvac helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where he remained in critical condition last evening.

An elderly couple turning into the parking lot of Howard County General Hospital's oncology department office yesterday morning were seriously injured after being struck by a Lexus driven by a 58-year-old man, Howard County police said. The other driver was unhurt. Charles R. Rogers, 81, accompanied by his wife, Betty, 72, was driving west on Little Patuxent Parkway, near Freshaire Lane, in their 1994 Ford Taurus when he turned left into the parking lot of the Central Maryland Oncology Center, police said.