SPRINGFIELD — Tucked away beside the Effingham Health System complex is a small but vital piece of Effingham County’s first responder network — Lifestar.
Besides being able to get to an accident scene and then to a hospital quickly, Lifestar provide what amounts to an emergency room in a helicopter. Flight Paramedic Jeff Kuehn said it’s like bringing the emergency room to the patients.
When a call comes in through Lifestar dispatch, a team of three — a pilot, flight nurse and a flight paramedic — boards a helicopter and flies to the emergency site. Once there, they work alongside other first responders, whether law enforcement, firefighters or EMS.
Kuehn said it’s not uncommon to work 24 hours on and 48 hours off.
Kuehn said, “A standard ground EMS unit is capable of advanced life support or ALS. When a patient presents with injuries above ALS capabilities, helicopters are utilized because they provide advanced trauma and critical care services that the standard ground unit does not have.”
The local team is activated by a call from Lifestar’s dispatch center based on Omaha, Nebraska. Once local ambulance, fire, police and Lifestar are called to respond to an emergency situation, the Omaha dispatcher puts the call in to the Effingham County Lifestar office, which takes about 2-3 seconds.
Kuehn recalled some of his toughest calls.
“The toughest calls for me are calls in which you know the outcome is not going to be good but the family on scene doesn’t understand,” he said. “Pediatrics are always tough because they’re children and they can’t communicate with us and tell us what’s wrong.”
He added that it’s hard to handle a really emotional situation when you need to be objective and do what needs to be done.
A particularly hard case to work this past year came on a day filled with tragedies. They had two severe motor vehicle accidents and both patients in two separate counties had severe, life-threatening injuries and ultimately passed.
Kuehn said it was an especially bad day because both patients succumbed to their injuries in spite of the team doing everything it could to bring about a positive outcome.
Lifestar began about 35 years ago as part of Memorial Health System in Savannah. Today, the vital lifeline is based in Effingham County on the Effingham Healthcare campus. About 11 or 12 years ago, the service moved its base to Effingham County.
The number of Lifestar calls per month typically ranges from 35-45. Kuehn said the highest number it has flown is in the middle to high fifties.
The Effingham County base always has a pilot, medic and nurse on duty. The team of 13 full-time members work 24 hour shifts, which effectively has them working the equivalent of 2 weeks in one. Pilots work 12 hour shifts.
Kuehn said their helicopter is one of the fastest, with the most lift capability in the immediate area. Lifestar handles Effingham County, Jasper County, Beaufort County, Chatham County, Bryan County and Liberty County.
He also emphasized that Lifestar doesn’t offer memberships as some similar companies do. He said the common cost for its services is $236.
Kuehn sang the praises of Effingham Health System, a vital Lifestar partner.
He said, “We have a fantastic relationship with them. They’re fantastic providers and we work very well with them.”
