CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Helicopter crew chief Spc. Eric Mencias yesterday showed stretchers installed in a Blackhawk helicopter, like the one in the background, aircraft that are similar to ones that will be used in medical evacuations. CLICK FOR LARGE
|
|
Contractor for medical flights likely
Army officials want a long-term solution to continue emergency medical evacuation for the military and Oahu residents, and are looking at hiring a private contractor to provide emergency flight services.
In the meantime, emergency transport services for residents on Oahu and the Big Island will continue through the first half of 2007 with an Alaska-based Army unit, Army officials said yesterday.
State officials had been searching for options to maintain the aerial medical transport service for residents after a Hilo-based Hawaii National Guard unit that had been flying missions since April received orders to deploy to Iraq.
The island Guard unit -- Company C, 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation -- was filling in for an active-duty unit from Schofield Barracks that had airlifted Oahu patients for about 30 years before deploying to Iraq earlier this year.
U.S. Army, Pacific Maj. Gen. William Brandenburg said the high demand for emergency flights in Iraq and Afghanistan isn't expected to dissipate soon, and it has forced Army officials to begin talking about issuing a competitive bid process to hire a private contractor in Hawaii by this summer.
"We've got to come up with something that will be good for a long term instead of a continuing series of interim solutions," Brandenburg said.
The Hawaii National Guard helicopter company will continue offering transportation services to residents on Oahu and the Big Island until the end of January, when the unit will train the replacement crew from U.S. Army Alaska Task Force 49 on flight procedures and landing zones before departing for Iraq training in Texas in the spring.
Up to four helicopters from the U.S. Army's Alaska Task Force 49 and several dozen crewmembers are expected to arrive by the end of January, officials said.
Two helicopters are already on the Big Island to serve the Pohakuloa Training Center.
Army officials are still determining the number of staff needed and where they will come from -- some possibly from Alaska or Hawaii's National Guard, said U.S. Army, Pacific spokesman Lt. Col. John Williams.
State Deputy Health Director Susan Jackson called the partnership between the U.S. Army and the Army National Guard to continue services an "elegant solution" for Hawaii residents.
"We always need to look at the options, and we believe that what is going on right now is certainly the best option," she said.
State Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Robert Lee said the flights are crucial for life-threatening injuries because they can shorten one-hour ambulance transports, such as from Kahuku to the trauma center at the Queen's Medical Center, to within 10 minutes by copter.
Lee said the state will reimburse the Army for the costs of civilian transport, which are estimated at $3,500 per mission. The Army will continue to provide the service between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. daily.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.