Children's Hospital Community Report

A report to the community about
emergency medical helicopter landings at
Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center

A summary of flight activity,
October through December 2000

Landing Location Summary

	Children's Hospital Emergency Room	UW Intramural Field
October	4	6
November	3	9
December	5	14

Patients Transported by Airlift Northwest
to Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center Helistop
October - December 2000

DATE	LANDING	DEPARTURE	TRANSPORTED FROM	AGE	DIAGNOSIS (Explanations on reverse side)	OUTCOMES
OCTOBER
3	6:28 am	8:13 am	St. Joseph, Bellingham	Newborn	R/O Sepsis or Heart Disease	Died 10/5
19	5:36 pm	7:06 pm	Providence, Everett	Infant	Respiratory Failure	Died 10/20
20	12:17 pm	1:22 pm	Jefferson General, Port Townsend	Infant	Heart Arrythmia	Hospitalized 3 days
24	8:50 pm	unknown	Medic - 16, Port Ludlow	School Age	Status Epilepticus with respiratory Distress	Hospitalized 4 days
NOVEMBER
2	5:01 pm	5:22 pm	United Affiliated, Mount Vernon	Toddler	Diabetic Ketoacidosis	Hospitalized 6 days
8	7:18 pm	8:20 pm	Olympic Memorial, Port Angeles	Newborn	Respiratory Distress; R/O Sepsis	Hospitalized 10 days
30	12:33 pm	1:32 pm	Valley Medical, Renton	School Age	Medication Overdose	Hospitalized 2 days
DECEMBER
12	5:22 pm	6:46 pm	Group Health, Redmond	School Age	Diabetic Ketoacidosis	Hospitalized 1 day
13	1:56 pm	2:58 pm	St. Peter's, Olympia	Newborn	Respiratory Failure from Meconium Aspiration	Hospitalized 21 days
18	12:27 am	12:57 am	Medic - 8, Federal Way	School Age	Near Drowning	Hospitalized 16 days
20	1:00 pm	2:22 pm	Medic - 12, Enumclaw	School Age	Status Epilepticus	Hospitalized 1 day
29	6:22 pm	7:00 pm	Medic - 13, Quilcene	School Age	Status Epilepticus	Hospitalized 2 days

Note to our neighbors: A Medical Review Committee meets twice a year to review all emergency medical landings at Children's. This committee includes two representatives from the neighbor- hoods surrounding Children's, the director of the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health, two physicians independent of Children's and key medical leadership from Children's Hospital.

The committee continues to find that the vast majority of these emergency medical landings, which are based upon medical criteria, are justified. We continue to evaluate each situation to determine whether a safe alternative to the landing is available.

A report to the community about emergency medical helicopter landings at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center/ A summary of flight activity is published quarterly by the Communications Department at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Seattle, WA. If you have comments or questions, please call Susanne Peterson, director of Community and Government Affairs and Advocacy, at (206) 526-2125; or write her at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, P.O. Box 5371 CH-01, Seattle, WA 98105-0371.

Definition of Diagnosis/Treatment

Explanation of Diagnoses

R/O: suspected abnormality of disease process to be proven with further testing and treatment.
Sepsis: infection of the bloodstream.
Respiratory failure: periods of not breathing, requiring emergent placement of a breathing tube and mechanical ventilation.
Heart arrythmia: irregularity of the heart valve, leading to heart failure. The condition requires intravenous medication and specialized treatment to recapture heart function
Status epilepticus; respiratory distress: continuous seizures which cannot be stopped with medication
Diabetic ketoacidosis: an abnormal build up of sugar and acids in the blood stream due to diabetes, resulting in decreased level of consciousness
Respiratory distress: difficulty with breathing due to lung or systemic infection
Medication overdose: excessive medication administration resulting in decreased level of consciousness, breathing or heart problems
Meconium aspiration: pneumonia -like illness of newborn due to inhalation at birth of fluid containing the child's first stool
Near drowning: pool submersion resulting in bystander attempting rescue breathing, but without recovery of regular breathing effort

Return to Laurelhurst home page

A report to the community about emergency medical helicopter landings at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center

Landing Location Summary

Patients Transported by Airlift Northwest to Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center Helistop October - December 2000

Definition of Diagnosis/Treatment

A report to the community about
emergency medical helicopter landings at
Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center

Patients Transported by Airlift Northwest
to Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center Helistop
October - December 2000