The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems will conduct an accreditation site visit of:

Cal-Ore Life Flight
on
February 20-21, 2012

The purpose of the site visit will be to evaluate the program’s compliance with nationally established medical transport standards. The site visit results will be used to determine whether, and the conditions under which accreditation should be awarded to the program.

CAMTS accreditation standards deal with issues of patient care and safety of the transport environment. Anyone believing that he or she has pertinent or valid information about such matters may request a public information interview with the CAMTS site surveyors at the time of the site visit. Information presented at the interview will be carefully evaluated for relevance to the accreditation process. Requests for public information interviews must be made in writing and sent to CAMTS no later than 5 business days before the site survey begins. The request should also indicate the nature of the information to be provided during the interview. Such request should be addressed to:

Office of the Executive Director
Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems
PO Box 130
Sandy Springs, SC 29677

The Commission will acknowledge such written requests in writing or by telephone and will inform the program of the request for an interview. The program will, in turn, notify the interviewee of the date, time and place of the meeting.

This notice is posted in accordance with the CAMTS requirements and may not be removed until the site visit is completed.

Date Posted: January 20, 2012

REACH Air Medical Services and Cal-Ore Life Flight announced Tuesday the merger of the two privately-held companies, creating the most comprehensive network of medical air and ground transportation in the Western United States.

“It’s a natural fit, and it’s only going to make things better for Cal-Ore customers,” Dan Brattain, president and CEO of Cal-Ore Life Flight, said Tuesday.

The Santa Rosa, Calif.-based REACH, with 13 helicopter bases and one airplane base, and Brookings’ Cal-Ore, with two airplane and two ground ambulance bases, have been collaborators in patient transport services for years, Brattain said. Their mutual commitments to safety, outstanding patient care and customer service bring two organizations together into a broader network, he said.

In a statement released Tuesday, REACH Chief Executive Officer Jim Adams said, “Cal-Ore is recognized for its superb airplane medical transports as well as its community-focused emergency and non-emergency ground ambulance services.

“REACH is known for its excellence in both helicopter and airplane emergency medical services. Both are known for exceptional tertiary level pediatric and neonatal care and general clinical excellence. This merger brings together two companies with identical values, community involvement and commitment to doing what is right for our patients. We are honored and excited by this collaboration.”

With the merger, Brattain takes a seat on the REACH Medical Holdings, LLC board of directors and is co-partner. He will stay in Brookings and run the Cal-Ore operations.

“The combined companies will provide enhanced emergency and critical care transport services to our customers through the integration of ground, airplane, and helicopter services,” he said.

“This comprehensive offering will be managed through REACH’s First Call regional referral center. The merger will help solidify the companies’ strong growth opportunities with key healthcare systems, hospitals, and communities.”

Brattain also reflected on additional attributes of the merger. “We are both family owned companies and share a common vision, culture, and objectives. We feel that putting the two companies under the same parent organization will provide a long term service and business strategy for each of our companies, employees/families, and the communities we serve.”

Both companies have experienced steady and strategic growth in recent years. REACH began providing air ambulance services with a single helicopter and base of operations in California in1987 and now employs more than 300 people from 24/7 bases located throughout California, Oregon and Texas. Both are also accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Services (CAMTS).

Cal-Ore operates eight ground ambulances, seven fixed-wing air ambulances and a remote scene support helicopter, as well as a facility providing aviation products. Cal-Ore has a staff of over 70 dedicated employees. Cal-Ore’s bases are located in Gold Beach and Brookings, and Eureka and Crescent City, Calif.

The merger, in addition to providing a stronger network of integrated services, is also in response to the dynamic healthcare landscape, Adams said.

“In order to meet the changing needs and demands of healthcare reform, hospitals, healthcare organizations and insurance companies are looking for ways to streamline operations and expenses both within and outside of the hospital,” he said. “The merger allows our healthcare partners the ability work with a single high-quality, patient-focused and complete patient transport service. We will be able to assist them in meeting their fiscal demands and quality of care expectations.”

Cal-Ore has long served the rural southern Oregon and northern California communities.

“As rural hospitals grapple with growing demands coupled with limited funding, reimbursement and staff,” said Brattain, “we believe our services will be extremely important and valuable in helping these hospitals care for critically ill and/or injured patients. In the bigger picture,” Brattain continued, “while national and state economic issues may be stabilizing, our ability to streamline costs while maintaining and/or enhancing services, is critically important. We believe the merging of our two companies helps to meet all these objectives.”

Some of Cal-Ore’s current general and administrative functions will be transitioned to REACH. These include financial services, human resources, risk management, business development and referral management. REACH will also provide increased clinical training and marketing support.

Adams and Brattain both stressed that Cal-Ore’s service delivery to the local communities will not change, but will be enhanced while continuing to operate with the “same employees, management, medical transport vehicles/aircraft, and FAA operating authority, all under the Cal-Ore Life Flight name”.

Both organizations offer ambulance membership programs that accept health insurance reimbursement as payment for services provided.

According to Brattain, a “huge benefit to local Cal-Ore members is that they are automatically considered a REACH member should they need REACH’s services in one of the many communities they serve”.

The merger became effective Nov. 30, 2011.

When 12-year-old Rocky Richards checked on his grandfather recently, he found the 58-year-old man sweating profusely and moaning in his sleep.

The boy tried to turn his grandfather over and talk to him, but he was unconscious.

Instead of panicking, Rocky knew exactly what to do. His mother and grandfather had taught him what to do if something like this happened.

His grandfather, Rocky Grubb, was in a diabetic shock. And the next actions that Richards took saved the man’s life.

“I was kind of scared,” Richards said of the experience. “I didn’t want him to pass away or something.”

Paramedic Stacy Rust, who responded to Richards’ Harbor, Ore., home, said, “Hands down, he saved his grandfather’s life. Had that little boy not acted like he did and responded so quickly, (his grandfather) certainly would have died. He was already on his way out the door.”

Realizing that his grandfather was in a diabetic shock, Richards tried giving him some orange juice and syrup, with no luck.

He checked Grubb’s blood sugar level by pricking his finger and using a meter to check the count. He observed that his grandfather’s sugar level was extremely low.

Richards, who was home alone with his grandfather, called his mother, Jennifer Havell, who told him to call a friend to come over.

Then, Richards called 911.

Rust, of Cal-Ore Life Flight Ground and Air Ambulance Service, responded.

When she arrived, she checked Grubb’s blood sugar, put him on an IV and gave him a large dose of sugar. After a few minutes Grubb came to, and began eating a sandwich and drinking a glass of milk that Richards poured.

Rust said in her 10 years as a medic, she has never seen anything like this.

“It was such an unusual call that I called our training supervisor, and told her how wonderful this story was,” Rust said.

She said when she responded to the scene, Richards was able to answer every question she had, including what Grubb ate for breakfast, how much he ate and how much he usually eats for breakfast.

“For (Richards) to have the smarts to check (Grubb’s) blood sugar, I could not believe that,” Rust said. “I cannot express how proud I was of this little man. I told him he needs to be a paramedic.”

Grubb said he is very thankful, and that Richards’ actions give him hope for this generation.

“He’s more grown up than people I know that are my age,” Grubb said. “Even at this age his priorities are a little greater than himself. It’s not about him all the time.”

“I think that some people are just natural heroes,” he said.

Richards is just happy that everything turned out well.

“I’m just glad my grandpa is safe,” he said.

The National Aeronautic Association recently approved a record claimed by pilots David and Linda Ravetti of Humboldt County.

On July 4, 2011, the couple flew from Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz., to Crescent City. The 765-mile flight, which included one fuel stop, lasted 5 hours, 26 minutes, for an average speed of 140.49 mph. They made the flight in a 1965 Mooney M20C, a light single-engine aircraft. This record for “Speed Over a Recognized Course” represents the fastest speed of any piston engine landplane weighing between 2,205 and 3,858 pounds over the route.

The couple was married in Redwood National Park and the record flight took place on the couple’s 13th wedding anniversary.

David Ravetti made his first solo flight in 1973 and has since logged more than 19,000 hours of flight time. He holds Certified Flight Instructor and Air Transport Pilot certificates. Linda Ravetti made her first solo flight in 1995 and holds a Private Pilot certificate. This is their first aviation record.

David Ravetti is an air ambulance pilot for Cal-Ore Life Flight, based at Murray Field in Eureka. Linda Ravetti is a nurse practitioner for the Department of Veterans Affairs, also based in Eureka.