Maryland's Airborne Ambulance Service Is 36 Years Old Today

MIDDLE RIVER (AP) - Trooper 1, the Maryland State Police helicopter ambulance, lifts off, heading to the scene of a two-car crash in northern Harford County.

It's the day's first call, which came eight hours into a 12-hour shift for First Sgt. Walter Kerr, the flight paramedic, and Craig Thompson, the civilian pilot.

As the aircraft flies about 1,000 feet above ground, traveling about 160 mph, Sgt. Kerr and Mr. Thompson are in communication with firefighters in Jarrettsville.

"Where did they say we could land?" Mr. Thompson asks.

"They said right on the road," Sgt. Kerr replies. It's a rural area, and police have stopped traffic from entering the road.

Trooper 1 arrives on the scene, covering what would be a 28-mile drive in 15 minutes, as the crow flies.

Utility wires make landing on the road impossible. Mr. Thompson tries to set down in a large yard behind a building on the road. People standing on the road, who had been checking out the accident's remains, turn their attention to the chopper; one person videotapes its maneuvering.

The ground is wet, and the helicopter sinks into the mud. Mr. Thompson lifts the aircraft up and flies about 100 yards to land in a cornfield. The pilot must stay on board, so Sgt. Kerr gets out and heads to the ambulance where the car crash victim, a middle-aged woman, waits.

Sgt. Kerr and Mr. Thompson had spent most of the day in the spacious flight office at Martin State Airport in eastern Baltimore County. A steady stream of visitors - other MedEvac crews, state troopers and mechanics - strolled through as the pair waited for a call.

The winter produces fewer accidents, Sgt. Kerr explains, because people tend to stay indoors. "When the crocuses start to appear, people start to take more road trips," and get into accidents.

Sgt. Kerr, 44, began his law enforcement career as a firefighter in Wilmington, Del., and joined the Maryland State Police in 1986. He is also a licensed pilot, but does not fly for the state police. As a trooper, he carries a gun on duty, although he seldom has to draw it as a paramedic. "I once had to shoot a deer who had been hit by a car," he said.

Mr. Thompson, 54, checks weather reports on his computer and tells visitors stories about his father, legendary Orioles broadcaster Chuck Thompson, who died last year. Craig Thompson was a trooper with the state police before retiring and flying corporate helicopters for a few years. Now, he's back with the state police as a civilian pilot.

Just outside the office door is the hangar. Half a dozen seemingly identical helicopters are in various stages of maintenance and repair. Besides the 12 ambulance helicopters (only eight are in service at any given time), the state police aviation unit has a surveillance plane and an unmarked Cessna that ferries prisoners being brought to Maryland from other states.

Motor vehicle accidents account for the vast majority of calls that the state police aviation unit responds to. But not all calls are from accident scenes. Heart attacks and other medical conditions, falls and sporting accidents are also common.

Response time can mean the difference between life and death. The late Dr. R Adams Cowley, who established Shock Trauma and Maryland's division of emergency medical services, developed the theory of the "golden hour."

"There is a golden hour between life and death," Dr. Cowley said. "If you are critically injured, you have less than 60 minutes to survive. You might not die right then; it may be three days or two weeks later - but something has happened in your body that is irreparable."

The first state police MedEvac flight in Maryland took off on March 19, 1970. The service has flown more than 100,000 patients, including more than 5,300 last year.