On January 19, 2018, the Winona Rotary Club held its regular Friday noon meeting the Pizza Inn. Past District Governor Bob Graves presided. Eighteen members and three guests were present. Vince Saia introduced Frances Byers Bryant as his program.
Bryant is a representative of AirMedCare Network. That network provides air medical emergency response to rural America. It is the largest network of its kind, and it operates aircraft out of 320 bases in 38 states. It has bases in Mississippi in Batesville, Corinth, Greenville, and Natchez. It provides both trauma transport and hospital to hospital transport for its members. It is a membership service with over three million members.
Each helicopter is crewed by a pilot, a flight nurse, and a flight paramedic. The mission of each crew is to provide the best available care for the patient until the patient can be transported to the closest medical facility that will provide the patient with the best chance for survival and recovery. In Mississippi, that transport is normally to the University of Mississippi Hospital which is the only Level 1 trauma hospital in the state, but transport can be made to other hospitals if the patient requests it and if the hospital is capable of providing the necessary service.
The Network is supported by dues from its members. The cost of a flight is variable and it depends on a number of factors, but it is always expensive. I am aware of a Grenada to Tupelo trip that was billed at $75,000 and a Winona to Jackson trip that was billed at $38,000. But since the risk of a particular member using the service is small the cost of membership is small. Memberships are sold as family memberships rather than individual memberships so that all of the members of your household are covered. The current family membership fee is $65 per year. Members have no out-of-pocket costs if they are flown by an AirMedCare helicopter.
A number of local business and governmental groups have purchased the memberships for their employees. Bryant mentioned Delta Electric, Tyler Holmes Memorial Hospital, the Bank of Winona, the Bank of Kilmichael, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, and the City of Winona as participating groups.
She said that AirMedCare was the preferred provider for Tyler Holmes Memorial Hospital and that if an air ambulance were requested through Tyler Holmes then AirMedCare would receive the call. Unfortunately, the air ambulance that is based in Greenwood operates through another provider, and your membership with AirMedCare will not cover that provider. The company will provide you with a sticker for your car, but if you or your family have the coverage and have the opportunity to select the provider, be sure and ask for AirMedCare. Otherwise, your membership will be worthless.
At our next meeting Sue Stidham, the Executive Director of the EDP will introduce Deanna Woods, who is a licensed social worker with Tyler Holmes Memorial Hospital, and she will speak about the opioid epidemic. You are invited to come and bring a guest and you are asked to remember the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self.”
