Life Lion Relocation to Carlisle Airport

[Administrators]

Memo

Matthew T. Stapleton RN, BSN, PHRN, Chief Flight Nurse
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Penn State College of Medicine
Email: [e-mail]
Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Life Lion Critical Care Transport HS88
P.O. Box 850
Hershey, PA 17033-0850

We wanted our EMS community to be the first to know of Penn State Life Lion’s intention to move to a more permanent 24-hour operation at Carlisle Airport. Over the past 18 months we have conducted an internal analysis of our operations and come to the conclusion that this option is in the best interests of our patients and makes the most sense for our daily operations. As currently proposed to Medical Center Leadership, Life Lion will begin 12-hour operations in Carlisle on June 1, 2004. With the service moving to a 24-hour shift work at both our Hershey and Carlisle bases on July 1, 2004.

We have discovered that moving our operations to this location first and foremost affords the community at large a much better coverage area. We are also able to take full advantage of the airport’s amenities, including the immediate availability of hangar space, crew quarters, flight approach to the airport in inclement weather, and Jet-A fuel.

This move will allow us to better serve our intended coverage area both for scene work as well as for inter-hospital transports. Our research indicates that for a majority of our calls, Carlisle is either the 1st or 2nd closest responding base when compared to our Hershey, Gettysburg and Carlisle locations.

We are making a greater commitment to our service area and our first-responder partners by going 24 hours at the Carlisle base. You will now have access to two aircraft throughout your shifts. We will still be governed by the FAA regulations and weather.

We are unable to give you all the details in this letter. I encourage you to call or email me if you have any further questions regarding this exciting opportunity for our program. I can be contacted at [e-mail] or 717-531-7029. We enjoy working along side such dedicated and committed EMS professionals as those we continue to encounter within our region’s various communities. We look forward to enhancing the already great care provided in this region. Thank you for your continued support.

[Johnny Knoxville]

Does this mean they are pulling out of Gettysburg, or setting up another base station ?

JK ;D

[Bill]

If you read between the lines it looks like they're pulling out of Gettysburg and moving to Carlisle.

That's a good question, J.K. I think I'll give them a call on Tuesday and get some clarification so that we all know how to plan.....

[Brian McCaffrey]

Not sure how much planning you are going to have to do there, Bill. Response time for the bird will not change much (if at all) compared to it coming from Gettysburg.

Plus, beginning July 1, the Carlisle bird will be staffed 24/7. That ought to ease any potential complainering. They've put alot of thought into this and they do intend for this to be a permanent base.

I know this is difficult for some of us Franklin Countians to comprehend, but let's not get our panties in a bunch until we see it in action.

Caff