Life Link III continues to lead the way

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1 INSIDE Life Link III Names Vice Presidents...page 2 Life Link III Has a New Website...page 3 Certified Flight Clinicians at Life Link III...page 4 Life Link III Launches Safety Webpage...page 4 State of Science in Cardiac Care and Resuscitation...page 5 RSQ911 Customer Surveys What Are They All About?... page 6 Visiting the Life Link III Hangar... page 7 Trauma Tactics Save the Date!... page New Equipment Enhances Life Link III Services By Cheryl Pasquarella, RN, Director of Quality, Education & Compliance and Megan Hartigan, RN, Clinical Nurse Educator Life Link III continues to lead the way in the industry when it comes to patient care. With the addition of some key pieces of equipment, Life Link III is further enhancing its clinical excellence and patient care! LUCAS 2 In October 2012, Life Link III added the LUCAS 2 Chest Compression System to all of its helicopters and planes. Life Link III is the only air medical provider in the state of Minnesota, and one of only three programs in the country to carry the LUCAS 2. The LUCAS 2 is a safe and efficient tool that performs chest compressions according to the latest scientific guidelines. It provides the same quality compressions for all patients, meaning patient care is unaffected by variations in transport conditions, caregiver fatigue and experience level of the caregiver. This frees rescuers to focus on other life-saving tasks. Studies have shown that the mechanically controlled LUCAS 2 compressions are able to sustain a higher blood flow to the brain and heart compared to manual compressions. Life Link III clinicians place the LUCAS 2 on patients that have been identified as high risk for cardiac arrest during transport. These patients may include: Resuscitated cardiac arrest patients Hemodynamically unstable patients STEMI patients Clinician impression and judgment SPRING 2013 Life Link III clinicians train on the LUCAS 2 inside the helicopter Active cardiac arrest with acceptance at a referral hospital Additionally, Life Link III may transport patients with active LUCAS 2 cardiac compressions in progress from a referral center to a tertiary care center. We will follow established communication channels to provide you with patient information. Should the patient have your chest compression device in use when the flight crew arrives, they will place the Life Link III LUCAS 2 on the patient, freeing your device to remain available to your patients. continued on page 7

2 Life Link III Names Vice Presidents In January 2013, Life Link III named two new Vice Presidents: Kolby Kolbet, RN, Vice President of Clinical Services, and Bob Rhiel, Paramedic, Vice President of Operations. We are pleased to introduce them to you: Kolby Kolbet, RN, MSN, CFRN Vice President of Clinical Services In his new position at Life Link III, Kolby has responsibility for clinical education, quality assurance and clinical practice. Prior to coming to Life Link III, Kolby was the Chief Flight Nurse at Gundersen Lutheran MedLink AIR in La Crosse, WI. Kolby had been a flight nurse with MedLink AIR since 2005 and he also served as the MedLink AIR Nurse Educator. While serving as the nurse educator for MedLink AIR, Kolby assisted in the development of a high-fidelity simulation program in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin School of Public Health-Wisconsin Academy of Rural Medicine program at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center. In addition to his nursing roles at MedLink AIR, Kolby worked in the Trauma and Emergency Center, Specialty Care Transport, and the Pediatric and Neonatal ICU. Kolby has lectured on multiple emergency and critical care topics at local, regional, and national level conferences. He continues to teach trauma courses across the country as an instructor and course coordinator for the Transport Nurse Advanced Trauma Course sponsored by the Air and Surface Transport Nurses Association (ASTNA) as well as the Trauma Nurse Core Curriculum, sponsored by the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA). Kolby is also faculty for procedural cadaver labs sponsored by the Vidacare Corporation. Kolby earned his Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Allen College in Waterloo, IA and obtained his Masters of Science in Nursing Education from Viterbo University in La Crosse, WI. Kolby is also a Certified Medical Transport Executive (CMTE), Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN), and Critical Care Paramedic (CCEMT-P). Kolby is an active member of the Emergency Nurses Association as well as the Air & Surface Transport Nurses Association where he had served as ASTNA Membership Chairperson. Prior to becoming a nurse, Kolby was active in EMS as a Volunteer First Responder and EMT with the Chickasaw Rescue Squad in New Hampton, IA. Kolby obtained his Iowa paramedic certificate from the University of Iowa. Kolby also attended Creighton University in Omaha, NE to become a Nationally Registered Paramedic. Kolby worked as a paramedic with both Chickasaw Ambulance Service in New Hampton, IA and Tri-State Ambulance Service in La Crosse, WI. Bob Rhiel, BA, CCEMT-P, FP-C Vice President of Operations Bob joined Life Link III in 2000 as a ground transport paramedic. He has a long history in EMS, including roles as the EMS Director and Assistant Ambulance Director in Ellsworth, Wisconsin. He was also a volunteer firefighter with the Ellsworth Fire Department. Bob worked full time in law enforcement until He was a Pierce County Sheriff s Department Investigator and SWAT Team Leader. Currently, Bob is a critical care paramedic and a certified flight paramedic, and is attending the Medical Transport Leadership Institute through the Association of Air Medical Services. He is a licensed fixed wing pilot for single and multi-engine aircraft. In his new role at Life Link III, Bob will oversee the operation of all the company s helicopter bases, the Communications Center and will manage facilities at the Minneapolis office.

3 Life Link III Has a New Website Have you had the chance to explore Life Link III s new website yet? The site launched at the end of 2012, and provides much more information for the user, as well as new ways to interact with Life Link III. We think you ll find it helpful and user-friendly. Here s a quick tour: About Us: Learn about the company s history, its consortium members, the Board of Directors, Executive Leadership and Life Link III s safety commitments. Services: Learn more about helicopter and airplane patient transportation, the services provided by the Life Link III Communications Center and meet the administrative staff. This section is also where you will find the downloadable version of the PCS form needed for patient transport. Outreach and Education: Information on Trauma Tactics, landing zone training, the ride along program and public events can be found here. You can also submit training, outreach education and public event requests right on the site, and you can read the latest edition of the LifeLines newsletter online! Shop: The online store, featuring Life Link III logo apparel, will open soon. Watch for more updates! We hope you will visit us at and then let us know what you think of the website and how we can continue to make this site valuable for our customers and colleagues. Remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter (LifeLinkIII)!

4 Certified Flight Clinicians at Life Link III C ertification is equated with expert, high-quality, competent professionals (Krapohl et al, 2010). Certification of flight clinicians is a voluntary process validating to the Air Medical Transport community and to their professional peers achievement of predetermined standards in the specialties of flight nurse or flight paramedic. This requires passing a specialized exam that verifies expert knowledge and clinical skills. At Life Link III all of our fight nurses and flight paramedics have achieved either the Certified Flight RN (CFRN) or Flight Paramedic-Certified (FP-C) certifications within 18 months of hire. We believe that attaining and maintaining professional credentials is critical to providing the best evidence-based care for our patients. We have committed and invested in the continuing education necessary to attain and sustain these important certifications. In addition we believe that this industry standard translates to enhanced safety and improved outcomes for our patients (Krapohl et al, 2010). Krapohl, G., Manojlovich, M., Redman, R., Zhang, L. (2010). Nursing specialty cortication and nursing-sensitive patient outcomes in the intensive care unit. American Journal of Critical Care. 19 (6) doi: /ajcc Life Link III Launches Safety Webpage As part of our ongoing commitment to the safety of our patients, crew members and those with whom we work, Life Link III is pleased to announce the addition of a safety webpage found on our website The page is designed to be user-friendly so that aircraft safety information can be located quickly and easily, and to provide basic information for those operating around helicopters and airplanes. Visitors to the page also have the ability to download safety posters for quick reference, training, and review. Now is a great time to check your records to ensure that your personnel have had initial and recurrent helipad or landing zone safety training. Life Link III is happy to assist you and your organization with this training, which is designed for anyone who is responsible for setting up and securing a landing zone (LZ) or ensuring that a helipad is secure. This may include law enforcement and fire first responders, hospital security and facilities personnel. To request a class, scroll down to the bottom of the Safety web page and click the Training Request button. It s winter! When it comes to de-icing, did you know: Salt is corrosive to aircraft parts, and sand is abrasive and easily ingested into engines. Downdraft ( rotor wash ) will blow salt and sand at a high rate, potentially causing harm to persons or damaging facilities. There are various FAA-approved products that are an alternative to sodium chloride and sand. Such products contain urea, potassium, or a combination of these.

5 State of the Science in Cardiac Care and Resuscitation Benefits Life Link III Patients By Megan Hartigan, RN, Clinical Nurse Educator On Valentine s Day, 55-year-old Luke (name changed) had chest pain and was diagnosed with an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) at a rural North Dakota Hospital. Luke was immediately transferred to Minot for interventions in the cardiac catheterization lab. Difficulty was encountered while placing a stent in the cath lab so Luke was taken to surgery and a 4-vessel coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) was attempted. It was during this cardiac surgery that Luke suffered a cardiac arrest, was resuscitated and placed on an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) and extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) device. The hospital in Minot requested Life Link III fixed wing to transport Luke a to a specialty cardiac center. Luke, his attached life-saving equipment and three caregivers boarded the Pilatus PC-12/45 (operated by Club Jet). He required highly complex care during his transport. He still had an open chest following cardiac surgery, he had bilateral chest tubes, arterial, central venous and Swan-Ganz monitoring lines in addition to the lines required for IABP and ECMO. He was intubated and required the use of our ventilator. The Impact transport ventilator we use, combined with the expertise of our clinical staff, gives us the ability to manage extremely critical patients like Luke. He was also on multiple IV medications and required many units of blood. During the 90 minute flight, the flight team used our Zoll X monitor to supplement our Maquet Cardiosave IABP in monitoring and maintaining adequate cardiac output. Our Cardiosave IABP was used to improve ZOLL X monitor, used in this transport ventricular cardiac performance by increasing myocardial oxygen supply and decreasing myocardial oxygen demand. A respiratory therapist from the Minot hospital assisted the team in managing ECMO in order to give Luke s blood more oxygen until his heart was able to work unassisted. Luke was delivered to his destination hospital in stable condition. Though not used on this transport, Life Link III carries other state-of-the-science resuscitation equipment on every transport. These include the LUCAS 2 mechanical cardiac compression device and the C- MAC PM video laryngoscope. Our patients benefit from well-educated clinical staff equipped with state-of-the-art technology that we believe is making an impact in improving resuscitation outcomes. Life Link III is deeply vested in the evolving resuscitation science including evidence based clinical guidelines, participating in clinical trials and research, and supplying innovative equipment for our patients. Pilatus PC-12 aircraft

6 RSQ911 Customer Surveys What Are They All About? Life Link III began utilizing the RSQ911 Solutions customer satisfaction tool nearly one year ago. This web-based survey allows us to get feedback from customers on every patient transport we complete for them. The brief survey asks customers to rate their experiences with Life Link III on the dispatch process, timeliness of arrival, interaction with the transport crew and safety. These surveys provide Life Link III with important information, and we appreciate your continued participation. Why am I repeatedly asked to complete surveys even if I just did one? We ask our customers to complete a survey on every transport with Life Link III, not just once or twice per year. We are asking for your feedback on this particular transport not on your experiences with Life Link III over a long period. Asking for your opinions on one particular interaction gives us more accurate information, and this kind of feedback has proven to be much more effective than annual surveys. How long does the survey take? The survey is 9 questions and takes just a few minutes to complete by clicking to rate your level of satisfaction in various areas. There is a spot to provide additional comments regarding this particular transport if you wish. Why does Life Link III need all these surveys? To ensure we continue to provide the highest levels of service and exceed our customers expectations, we feel it is important to look at how we perform on every transport. This provides a better look at the service we are providing at any point in time. This helps us know how we are performing in real time, and provides opportunities to improve service or solve issues right away, instead of waiting for feedback in an annual survey. Does Life Link III really look at the completed surveys? Yes! At Life Link III we have very high service standards and managers are notified immediately if a survey is received that has answers that fall outside of our acceptable thresholds. We also review all surveys returned so we can share positive feedback and suggestions for improvement with our crews. What happens if I rate something low or voice a complaint in my survey? If you provide your name and contact information you will be contacted directly by a Life Link III manager within 24 hours. If you do not wish to be contacted directly you do not need to include your name. Our managers will still follow up with your organization to ensure we have all necessary information, understand what may have happened and correct if necessary. What if I want to provide feedback but I don't have a survey form? You can always complete a survey and provide us feedback even without a specific survey code. Just go to and click on the left side of the page where it indicates "Click Here to complete a survey without a mission code." We want your feedback any time! Life Link III crews will continue to distribute the RSQ911 survey forms on every patient transport. Thank you for your continued participation and your honest feedback on our services.

7 New Equipment Enhances Life Link III Services, cont. from page 1 IABP For our patients requiring hemodynamic support with counterpulsation, Life Link III is excited to announce rotor wing and fixed wing capabilities to provide intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) support. At 53 lbs, the compact size and reduced weight provide definite advantages in the transport environment. Not only does the Cardiosave IABP system automatically purge and fill the intraaortic balloon as local atmospheric pressure decreases or increases, the monitor is Night Vision Goggle (NVG) compatible. With easy access to control panels, enhanced triggering performance and pacer detection, enhanced pneumatics to optimize diastolic augmentation, and automatic optimal timing, our Maquet Cardiosave Hybrid IABP helps us provide a seamless transition from inhospital to transport mode. Visiting the Life Link III Hangar This winter, Life Link III Rice Lake enjoyed a visit from Jaden Reed. Jaden, now 4, was a Life Link III patient when he was just an infant. In 2009, Jaden was flown from Rice Lake to Marshfield with RSV and pneumonia. Understandably, his parents, Rebecca and Preston, were scared for their son. With a temperature over 104 degrees, 4-month-old Jaden was obviously very ill. I was so scared for my baby, said Rebecca. But the Life Link III crew was so helpful and nice, and waited for me to get to the hospital before they took off with him so that I could see him. She explained, They told us how long the flight would take, and they answered any questions we had. Rebecca and Preston watched the helicopter take off with Jaden and then rushed back home to quickly pack a few things and head to Marshfield. Jaden stayed in the hospital for 5 days, recovering from his illness. Now, at 4 years old Jaden is healthy and very active! We are very lucky to have a Life Link III base in this area, says Rebecca. They were so helpful to us during a very stressful time in our lives. Jaden visits the Rice Lake hangar and talks with Flight Nurse Keith Velaski

8 3010 Broadway St. NE Minneapolis, MN PRESORT STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES, MN Permit No Administrative Office For Dispatch Call: Twin Cities LINK (5465) Toll Free Follow Us: LifeLinkIII Operated By Life Link III Consortium Members: Trauma Tactics 2013 Save the Date! Mark your calendars and save the date for Trauma Tactics The 26th annual conference will be held October 11-12, 2013 at Treasure Island Resort & Casino near Red Wing, Minnesota. This year s event will again feature educational opportunities for pre-hospital and hospital providers covering basic and advanced skill levels. Complete conference brochures will be available this summer and online registration will be available through the Life Link III website. For more information or to be added to the Trauma Tactics mailing list, send an to [email protected].