Last week, when a suspected drunk driver drove through a stop sign and smashed his car into a pickup truck on Memorial Drive and Meridian Street, the truck's seriously injured driver waited 49 minutes before a CALSTAR helicopter landed to fly him to a Bay Area hospital.
That response time may be cut down significantly when the CALSTAR helicopter stationed in Gilroy is moved to Hollister this summer. CALSTAR Chief Flight Nurse Scott Weyland said the Bell 22 helicopter currently stationed in Gilroy takes about 55 minutes from the time of an emergency call until the patient is dropped off safely at the closest trauma center in San Jose. Once the helicopter is stationed in Hollister, he said the response time will be cut by about 20 minutes. CALSTAR plans to use two new helicopters in Salinas and Gilroy - allowing the organization to have one stationed here.
"Having a helicopter in Hollister will offer better support for the area," Weyland said. "Besides being able to respond more quickly to emergencies, it will be able to back up the helicopters in Gilroy and Salinas."
Weyland said CALSTAR flew 105 patients to Bay Area hospitals in 2006 and the numbers were "similar" in 2007. He also said CALSTAR is unable to respond to between 300 and 700 calls each year because they are busy helping other victims. Getting people to a trauma center within the "Golden Hour" - or one hour after the injury occurred - can be the difference between life and death, he said.
Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital does not have a trauma center, so people who are seriously injured in San Benito County rely on helicopter ambulances like CALSTAR and Life Flight to bring them to the closest hospital with a trauma center.
Hazel Hawkins spokeswoman Frankie Arballo said having a helicopter close by will not only help save the lives of people who are seriously injured or sick in Hollister, but it will also help people who develop complications at the hospital and need emergency transportation to another treatment center.
"Say a patient shows up with a heart attack - we can get them stabilized, but they need to be flown out," Arballo said. "Having a helicopter closer means one more way to get people to a trauma center when they need it."
About CALSTAR: CALSTAR is a non-profit helicopter ambulance company that works alongside several other private companies to offer emergency medical response for seriously injured people. The bill for a CALSTAR flight can be extremely expensive, ranging from $20,000 to $25,000. However, a "membership program" is available, which charges the full bill to any insurance company held by the patient and costs $40 per year. Anyone interested in signing up should contact CALSTAR at 1-888-207-life or log on to www.calstar.org.
Curtis Cartier Curtis Cartier covers the City of Hollister and public safety for the Free Lance. Reach him at (831) 637-5566 or email him.
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