'Copter findings fuel safety debate

Lawmakers mull medevac overhaul

Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009

Lawmakers who grappled with a proposed overhaul of the program during this year's legislative session hoped that the findings released last week by the National Transportation Safety Board will prompt a less combative discussion about needed changes and possible reform in the weeks and months ahead.

"This should be an opportunity for us to sit down in a nonthreatening environment and go over this so we can make improvements," said Sen. Thomas "Mac" Middleton (D-Charles), who chairs the committee that oversees the medevac system.

The early-morning crash, which occurred in foggy conditions, put additional scrutiny on a system that was already under fire for a critical audit released in August 2008.

Before the chopper plummeted into a park in Prince George's County, killing the pilot, a flight medic, emergency medical technician and a teenage patient who was being transferred from the scene of a car accident in Waldorf to Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly, Maryland's medevac system was regarded as "a gold standard operator," NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said Oct. 27.

Three of the four victims and the lone survivor were Charles County residents.

The accident, Sumwalt said, should "serve as a wake-up call, not only for the Maryland State Police, but for other agencies, as well."

However, several lawmakers who have focused on the state medevac system said they have already made a number of improvements since the crash and others are in the process of being implemented.

"If there's anything new in the report, we're certainly going to work with the state police and make sure that's addressed," said Del. John L. Bohanan Jr., who chairs the 14-member House Emergency Medical Services System Workgroup.

Investigators determined that pilot error, coupled with poor visibility, ineffective air traffic control and an outdated weather report, contributed to the crash into a wooded area of Walker Mill Regional Park.

But Bohanan (D-St. Mary's) doubted that the report will significantly shift his panel's charge or breathe new life into a failed proposal this year that aimed to privatize the state medevac system.

Instead, the General Assembly allocated $52.5 million toward the purchase of three new state police helicopters and more than $600,000 for safety upgrades to the current aging fleet

Bohanan's workgroup is slated to meet Nov. 10. Middleton said he hoped to schedule a briefing with NTSB representatives to review their findings and receive feedback from other parties before the start of the General Assembly session in January.

Sen. E.J. Pipkin, who pushed the privatization effort, said the report vindicates those who have long raised concerns about safety upgrades in the medevac system.

"Safety has been our focus since day one," he said.

"I think it shows we have a lot of work to do."

Pipkin (R-Upper Shore) stopped short of calling for the medevac program to be taken out of the state police's control, but said the NTSB report should dictate any future actions.

His proposal last year enraged those in the EMS community who felt the helicopter crash was an anomaly in an otherwise elite system.

The heated interactions prevented legislators from doing more to address safety issues and other improvements, Middleton said.

"When you draw the lines in the sand, you won't get anything done and I think that was pretty evident with the session [this] year," he said.

Staff writer Bethany Rodgers contributed to this report.

abrody@somdnews.com