hmmm this is interesting many times our government idiots use helicoptors to transport accident vitims to hospitals in the phoenix area with the mistaken idea that it is faster. in the phoenix area a ground anbulance get often get the person to a hospital in 10 minutes - while it takes a helicoptor 20 minutes to get to the scene. and helicoptors ride costs $7,000 while a ground ambulance only costs $553. Original Article Emergency transport by copter may be curbed Ambulances often reach Valley's hospitals faster Judi Villa The Arizona Republic Oct. 30, 2005 12:00 AM Valley cities have begun curtailing their use of medical helicopters, saying ground ambulances may actually get patients to the hospital faster. That idea is contrary to long-held beliefs that helicopters are the quickest way to go. But in urban areas such as the Valley, where five trauma centers are centrally located, ground ambulances could actually save minutes. "It's faster in the air, but it isn't that much faster if you have to launch it and land it and launch it again," said Assistant Phoenix Fire Chief Bob Khan. "It's probably quicker to go by ground." Phoenix officials now are looking critically at when it's really necessary to launch a helicopter and likely will restrict their use to situations in which it would take a ground ambulance longer than 20 minutes to reach a hospital. A few other cities are doing the same. The average ground transport time in Phoenix is 10 minutes. In Glendale, firefighters usually can reach a trauma center in 12 to 15 minutes. By comparison, a medical helicopter can get to just about any accident scene in the Valley within 10 minutes, said Mike Todd, spokesman for Native Air Ambulance. Flight crews spend up to 10 minutes on the ground before taking off for the hospital. Flight time is 2 miles per minute. "The air time is relatively short compared to ground ambulance time," said Dr. John Gallagher, director of emergency medical services for the Phoenix Fire Department. But, he said, all the other minutes add up: "You may be talking 15 to 20 minutes at that point." "All those things have to be considered vs. the transport time in a ground ambulance." Medical helicopters were launched at firefighters' requests more than 1,100 times last year in the Valley. But officials say congestion is making it harder for helicopters to find a safe place to land. In addition, fire departments such as Phoenix's have built new stations in outlying areas, bringing ground ambulances closer to patients. Those kinds of changes have affected the air vs. ground equation across the Valley. "If you're out in Wickenburg or Anthem or you're out in Buckeye somewhere, and you need to bring a critical patient, that's definitely the way to go, by helicopter," said Phoenix fire Capt. Rick Garner. "But in the city, ground ambulance is the way to go. . . . If you have an ambulance on scene, you can be in the ambulance and get en route before the helicopter can land." 'Save a minute or two' In Glendale, where access to hospitals also is relatively good, crews already are being told to transport patients by ground unless there are "special circumstances," said Firefighter Tim Wayne. "At best usually you can save a minute or two. Usually, it's a wash." Scottsdale, which is home to one of the Valley's trauma centers, transports by ground "probably nine times out of 10" because it's faster than flying, said Deputy Scottsdale Fire Chief Rod Thompson. But in Mesa, where transport times from some areas are 20 to 30 minutes, Deputy Mesa Fire Chief Mary Cameli said helicopters remain a necessity. The closest trauma centers are in Phoenix and Scottsdale. "It is much quicker for us to fly a patient than to ground a patient," Cameli said. Because the conditions of each situation vary so much, firefighters arriving at an accident must make decisions quickly. They consider the extent of injury, traffic conditions, the time it would take a helicopter to arrive and whether there is a safe place for it to land. Native Air's Todd said there are times, especially during rush hour in outlying areas, where a helicopter "absolutely is faster." "Get in your car and go drive in traffic and see," Todd said. "You're not going to go much faster with lights and sirens. The bottom line is your lights and sirens are great, but if you're stopped in traffic four cars back, it doesn't matter how bright your lights are or how loud your siren is, you're not going to get there any faster." The three air ambulance companies based in the Valley operate 15 helicopters. Todd said the bulk of their flights are from outlying areas, not from within the Valley's urban core. "Most of our stuff is times where they would never be able to do it in 10 minutes," he said. "I don't see a lot of times when they're calling for helicopters when they shouldn't." Medical transporting Nationwide, fire officials are debating how best to use medical helicopters even as they are being increasingly relied upon to transport patients. There are 753 medical helicopters in the United States, transporting about 400,000 patients a year, said Tom Judge, executive director of LifeFlight of Maine and president of the Association of Air Medical Services. As many as 30 percent of those patients would die if they didn't have access to a helicopter, he said. "You're bringing more than a transport vehicle," Judge said. "You're bringing an emergency department to the patient." The cost difference between the two options is large: a minimum of $553 for a ground ambulance vs. about $7,000 for a helicopter. But the cities and their fire departments don't pay the costs - insurance companies or the patients do. And emergency responders say cost isn't a factor in the decisions they make. "We're concerned about what's best for the patient," Gallagher said. "Time is the consideration. How quickly can we get the patient to the hospital?"