SANDY RUN, S.C. – LifeNet South Carolina helicopter crews underwent required annual survival training in the Sandy Run community of Calhoun County on Nov. 2.

The exercise was conducted on the family property of one of the pilots, John Nelson. Nelson said LifeNet personnel routinely train with local emergency services to ensure the local personnel are prepared to assist with such things as finding and preparing safe landing zones.

The survival training included GPS overland navigation, first responder proficiency in splinting injuries, building temporary shelter and fire building.

LifeNet’s parent company is Air Methods Corporation headquartered in Denver, Colo. Each crew consists of a pilot, an in-flight nurse and a paramedic, who provide medical evacuation services for patients. The aircraft accommodates the crew and one patient. One of the helicopters is configured specifically for neonatal and pediatric patients, and its crew specializes in those services.

Nelson said the company meets the requirements of Accreditation of Air Medical Transport Service. Required crew experience is a minimum of three years of critical care for nurses, three to five years as a crew chief for paramedics and 2,000 flight hours for pilots.

Jason Bober, registered nurse and Orangeburg base manager, said the survival training is done “to provide a higher level of care.”’

Nelson said LifeNet crews are based at four locations around South Carolina and Georgia: Orangeburg, Camden, Columbia and Augusta.

“We want to be close to the community,” he said. “We want to get the patient there as fast and safe as possible.”

Nelson, who is based in Orangeburg at the Regional Medical Center, noted that LifeNet helicopters are based at the most central location in the area they are serving, not necessarily at a hospital. Orangeburg crews cover Aiken, Bamberg, Orangeburg, Barnwell, Hampton, Colleton and Dorchester counties, he said. The helicopters have a maximum transit time of an hour and 10 minutes and average 200 calls per year, Nelson said.

T&D Correspondent Larry P. Jordan can be reached by phone at 803-874-3276.

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