{"id":5768,"date":"2020-03-21T18:03:55","date_gmt":"2020-03-21T17:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dgualdo.it\/wpmain\/?p=5768"},"modified":"2020-03-21T18:04:10","modified_gmt":"2020-03-21T17:04:10","slug":"maryland-state-police-aviation-command-marks-50-years-of-medevac-flights-with-over-180000-successful-missions-since-1970","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dgualdo.it\/wpmain\/maryland-state-police-aviation-command-marks-50-years-of-medevac-flights-with-over-180000-successful-missions-since-1970\/world_news\/03\/2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland State Police Aviation Command Marks 50 Years of Medevac Flights, with over 180,000 Successful Missions Since 1970."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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PRESS RELEASE – March 19, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first patient ever transported by the Maryland State Police Aviation Command.<\/strong> On March 19, 1970, MSP\u2019s \u201cHelicopter 108,\u201d crewed by pilot Corporal Gary Moore and Trooper First Class Paul Benson, was summoned to the Baltimore Beltway (I-695) and Falls Road for a patient involved in a motor vehicle crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two troopers, manning a turbine-powered\nBell Jet Ranger helicopter, flew the injured motorist to the Center for the\nStudy of Trauma, known today as the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock\nTrauma Center. Much has changed since that first mission, but our goal to\nprotect and improve the quality of life through the airborne delivery of\nemergency medical transportation has not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Maryland State Police Aviation Command<\/strong> today marks the 50th anniversary of the first civilian medevac mission flown in our state and the commencement of an integrated emergency medical system whose members have helped saved tens of thousands of lives since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On March 19, 1970, at 11:20 a.m., Maryland\nState Police \u201cHelicopter 108,\u201d crewed by pilot Corporal Gary Moore and medic\nTrooper First Class Paul Benson, was summoned to the Baltimore Beltway and\nFalls Road for a patient involved in a motor vehicle crash. The two troopers,\nmanning a turbine-powered Bell Jet Ranger helicopter, flew the injured motorist\nto the Center for the Study of Trauma, known today as the University of\nMaryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt took about three weeks before\nwe got our first call because it was all new all over the state,\u201d said retired\nLt. Colonel Gary Moore in a Maryland State Police video that highlighted the\ndepartment\u2019s historic firsts. \u201cThat particular morning in 1970, [TFC] Paul\n[Benson] and I were the duty crew and landed on the highway, picked that\npatient up and took him down to the trauma center. That patient did live.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Thursday morning mission to the Brooklandville community in Baltimore County half a century ago held the distinction of the formal expansion of the Maryland State Police into the world of emergency medical services. The mission marked the first time a civilian agency transported a critically-injured trauma patient from a scene by medevac helicopter. This had never before done before outside of a military setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is with the deepest pride I join Governor\nLarry Hogan, Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford, the members of the Maryland General\nAssembly and the Maryland Institute For Emergency Medical Services Systems in\ncongratulating the men and women of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command\non the 50th anniversary of the first civilian medevac flight in our state,\u201d\nMaryland State Police Superintendent Colonel Woodrow Jones III said. \u201cWe are a\nproud partner in an amazing system of emergency medical services personnel and resources\nthat includes the dedicated fire and EMS personnel on the scene and the\nincredible nurses, doctors and support personnel at trauma centers and\nhospitals throughout Maryland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince that first flight 50 years ago, the\naviation technicians, support staff, flight paramedics and pilots of the\nMaryland State Police Aviation Command have never wavered in their commitment\nto provide medevac, search and rescue, law enforcement and homeland security\nservices to the residents of our state and those who visit here,\u201d Colonel Jones\ncontinued. \u201cThey truly have a passion for what they do and daily provide the\nbest care in the air found anywhere. In partnership with our state\u2019s emergency\nmedical services system members, the women and men of the Aviation Command will\ncontinue to perform miracles in Maryland\u2019s skies every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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During the past 50 years, the members of the\nMaryland State Police Aviation Command have completed more than 180,000\nmissions and transported over 150,000 patients. The Aviation Command currently\nhas a fleet of 10 AgustaWestland AW 139 helicopters that are assigned to seven\nsections located in Allegany, Frederick, Baltimore, Prince George\u2019s, St.\nMary\u2019s, Talbot and Wicomico counties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Maryland State Police Aviation Division\nmedical mission profile began in November 1960 with a Hiller UH12E helicopter.\nThe unmistakable dome-style aircraft, popularized by the TV series M*A*S*H, was\nused primarily for police missions. However, a medical \u201csupport\u201d profile soon\ntook hold and initiated the idea of medical evacuation for Maryland citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Systematic medical care was not provided\non-board the Hiller helicopter. Instead, the aircraft would transport heart\nattack victims and expectant mothers following crippling snowstorms, or other\nemergencies. Medical rescues were performed with the Hiller as early as 1966,\nbut not under a complete system of \u201cen route care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. R Adams Cowley, the former U.S. Army\nsurgeon known for being the father of the \u201cGolden Hour\u201d concept in trauma\nmedicine, was the driving force behind this expansion into the area of medical\nevacuation (medevac). Dr. Cowley, the founder of the University of Maryland\nShock Trauma Center in Baltimore, believed that medevac transportation of\ncritically injured patients to Shock Trauma would save lives. He collaborated\nwith Maryland State Police Pilot Robert Wolfe and other innovative Marylanders\nto close the most significant gap in trauma care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Cowley was right. Since the early 1970\u2019s,\nthe University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center and Maryland\u2019s integrated\nemergency medical services system grew into a network of trauma centers,\nspecialty hospitals and medevac services that earned them a worldwide\nreputation as the leaders in trauma care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department replaced its fleet\nof Jet Rangers in the late 1980\u2019s, with the procurement of the AS365 Dauphin\nhelicopters which provided additional enhancements for the fleet, such as\nincreased speed, the added safety component of two engines and additional space\nto accommodate two patients. In 2013, the program was enhanced again when the\nfleet transitioned to the AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters.
\nAdditional safety equipment and measures were incorporated, along with the\naddition of a second pilot and a second medical provider to the standard flight\ncrew. The 24-hour-a-day mission of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command\nhas grown to include aerial rescue, homeland security support, search and\nrescue and disaster assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civilian Pilot-in-Command Craig Thompson has\nwitnessed the evolution of the Maryland State Police medevac program during his\n46 years with the Department. After more than 10 years as a road trooper, Mr.\nThompson transitioned from a cruiser to the cockpit of a Jet Ranger. Still a\npilot with the Aviation Command, Mr. Thompson has flown all three models of\nmedevac helicopters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Jet Ranger was fun to fly, but not\ncertified IFR (instrument flight rules), even though we flew in less than VFR\n(visual flight rules) weather all the time,\u201d said Mr. Thompson. \u201cThe Dauphin\nwas fast and instrument capable. The AW139 was a big jump from the Dauphin. Our\ncurrent aircraft is much bigger, faster and much more capable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The commemoration of this important\nanniversary would be incomplete without acknowledging the ultimate sacrifices\nof those members of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command who have lost\ntheir lives in the line-of-duty in one airplane and four helicopter crashes.\nThese crashes have claimed the lives of nine state troopers and one emergency\nmedical technician. The memories of these Fallen Heroes and their families will\nlive on for eternity as they made the ultimate sacrifice performing this\nlifesaving mission for the citizens of Maryland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PRESS RELEASE – March 19, 2020 Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first patient ever transported by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[803,6],"tags":[23,4,18,1175,698,2329,2330],"class_list":["post-5768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hems","category-world_news","tag-agustawestland","tag-aw139","tag-hems","tag-leonardo","tag-leonardo-helicopters","tag-maryland-state-police-aviation-command","tag-medevac"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dgualdo.it\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dgualdo.it\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dgualdo.it\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dgualdo.it\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dgualdo.it\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5768"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.dgualdo.it\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5776,"href":"https:\/\/www.dgualdo.it\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5768\/revisions\/5776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dgualdo.it\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dgualdo.it\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dgualdo.it\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}