Helicopter Landings at Children's Hospital
October-December 1998

A report to the community
about emergency medical helicopter landings
at Children's Hospital and Medical Center.
A summary of flight activity, October through December 1998

Landing Location Summary
October-December 1998

Children's Hospital
Emergency Room		UW Intramural
Field
October68
November58
December410
1998 Total Landings58*117
*Total does not include 2 non-Airlift Northwest landings at Children's-one by Medflight and one by Lifeflight.

Patients Transported by Emergency Medical Helicopter
Landing at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center
October-December 1998

DateLandingDepartureTransported
From		AgeDiagnosisReceiving UnitOutcome (as of Feb 99)
July
211:48 PM 3:05 PMCascade Valley Hospital, Arlington NewbornSevere birth asphyxia, seizuresIICUDied 10/24/98
224:53 AM 6:13 AMSt. Joseph Hospital, BellinghamNewbornRespiratory distress synd., prematurity, hyperbilirubinemiaIICUHospitalized 5 days
251:10 AM1:46 AMSt. Joseph Hospital, BellinghamPreschoolStatus epilepticus, encephalopathyPICUHospitalized 4 days
2510:41 AM11:35 AMHighline Hospital, BurienSchool-ageAcute tracheitis with obstructionPICUHospitalized 5 days
2812:59 AM2:04 AMBremerton Naval Hospital, BremertonNewbornTransposition of great vesselsIICUHospitalized 19 days
3110:22 PM11:30 PMMedic 6, KentInfantIntestinal perforationIICUDied 11/1/98
November
1011:41 AM12:40 PMMedic 23, KirklandSchool-ageCardiac arrest, transposition of great vesselsERDied in ER, 11/10/98
117:39 PM8:27 PMMedic 11, KentInfantComplex febrile seizureERHospitalized 2 days
142:24 PM4:23 PMOlympic Memorial Hospital, Port AngelesNewbornRespiratory distress syndrome, prematurityIICUDied 11/18/98
186:15 PM7:47 PMWhidbey General Hospital, CoupevilleNewbornSeizures, hypothermiaIICUHospitalized 9 days
192:46 PM7:14 PMMedic 5, EverettInfantViral croup, dehydrationPICUHospitalized 5 days
December
310:25 PM12:18 AMValley Medical Center, RentonInfantNewborn sepsis meningitis, seizuresIICUDied 12/5/98
79:02 AM10:48 PMSkagit Valley Hospital, Mt. VernonNewbornRespiratory arrest, apnea, pneumonediastinumIICUHospitalized 16 days
94:00 PM6:02 PMIsland Hospital, AnacortesNewbornRespiratory distress syndrome, prematurityIICUHospitalized 40 days
96:33 PM 7:16 PMMedics, Federal WayInfantAspiration, Anoxic brain damage respiratory failureERHospitalized 24 days

Definition of Diagnosis/Treatment

Anoxic brain damage: Extreme deficiency of oxygen to the brain.

Apnea: Spells of not breathing. This occurs often in newborns who have a systemic infection or episode of asphyxia.

Croup: Inflammation of the airway, which may cause difficulty in breathing. If severe, can result in blockage of the airway and require insertion of a tube to allow the patient to breathe. Viruses are the most common cause of croup.

Encephalopathy: Deterioration in brain function usually accompanied by a change in level of consciousness.

Hyperbilirubinemia: Also known as jaundice, this condition causes yellowish discoloration of the skin due to excessive destruction of the red blood cells in the circulation. This condition sometimes can lead to bilirubin encephalopathy, brain damage from very high levels of bilirubin from very rapid destruction of the red cells.

Pneumonediastinum: Air in the mid-chest between the lungs. Can cause pressure on the heart and lungs.

Respiratory distress syndrome: Problem of lung immaturity in premature babies (but sometimes occurs in term infants) resulting in the need for extra oxygen and mechanical ventilation.

Status epilepticus: Continuous epileptic seizures during which the patient is unconscious.

Transposition of the great vessels: A congenital heart defect in which the aorta arises from the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery from the left ventricle, the exact opposite of normal blood circulation. This creates two independent circulatory systems. TGV can be fatal because blood circulating through the defective system fails to get oxygen from the lungs.

To our Neighbors:
A Medical Review Committee meets several times a year to review all emergency medical landings at the hospital. This committee was formed in 1993 and includes two representatives from the Laurelhurst neighbor- hood, the medical 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 Cheryl Ellsworth, director of Community and Government Affairs, 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.

c/o 1999 Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center. All rights reserved.

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