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AEL Makes $10,000 Donation to Foundation for Air Medical Research and Education
Air Evac Lifeteam, a provider of rural-based air ambulance services, has made a donation of $10,000 to the Foundation for Air Medical Research and Education (FARE) for research on disaster preparedness and air medical response to natural disasters.
The donation was presented at the Town Hall Meeting March 10 at the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) Spring Conference in Washington, D.C.
In making the donation, Air Evac Lifeteam Vice President of Operations Seth Myers said it is Air Evac Lifeteam’s hope that the money will used to help promote more awareness about the role civilian air medical providers can play in natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, as well as establish a plan for deployment of such services.
“As one of the many air medical operators who responded to help the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Air Evac Lifeteam saw firsthand both the challenges of such an operation, as well as great humanitarian benefit,” Myers said. “Without the response of the private air medical community to this disaster, we can only imagine how many more lives would have been lost.
“At the same time, I think the disaster demonstrated the need for us to work with state and federal emergency agencies and the military to put a coordinated plan in place for future disasters,” Myers said.
FARE Chairman, Dr. Kevin Hutton, said, “I am very pleased that Air Evac Lifeteam has chosen to support FARE with this donation. Air Evac’s response to Katrina was in the very highest traditions of air medicine. That Air Evac then chose to ask its membership to participate in a program to raise funds for Katrina-related activities speaks for our community’s concerns for the patients we serve.
“This donation demonstrates that Air Evac is stepping up as a leader of our industry to invest in our community’s future by demonstrating that they feel it is crucially important to support FARE’s mission. In providing this donation to support research in disaster preparedness and planning, Air Evac hopes that other members of our community will demonstrate their support for our community by donating to FARE,” he added.
Air Evac Lifeteam, a membership supported air ambulance service, sent eight helicopters and more than 65 employees to the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts following Hurricane Katrina and, in five days, provided medical transport to more than 100 patients. A few weeks later, as Hurricane Rita was predicted to make landfall in Texas, Air Evac Lifeteam responded with five helicopters and more personnel to evacuate patients from the Gulf Coast hospitals between Houston and Beaumont, Texas.
The donation was made possible by the support of Air Evac Lifeteam’s 470,000 members, according to Air Evac Lifeteam President and CEO Colin Collins.
“In the last quarter of 2005, we asked our members to join us to raise funds to support Katrina relief efforts. We set aside a portion of the proceeds we took in from new memberships during that time period and raised an astonishing $60,000,” he said.
Last week, Air Evac Lifeteam made a $10,000 to donation to Angel Flight America, a non-profit, volunteer-based agency which provided medical transportation to more than 3,700 patients in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and another $10,000 donation to Helicopter Association International (HAI) to help establish a database of civilian helicopter resources that would be available to respond in the event of natural disasters or other times of need.
Air Evac Lifeteam, based in West Plains, Mo., is the largest independently owned air ambulance service in the United States. The membership-supported air ambulance service operates 60 bases in 11 states throughout the central United States. Information about Air Evac Lifeteam services can be found at www.lifeteam.net or by calling 1-800-793-0010.
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