Medical center to launch helideck: Mills-Peninsula prepping for return of emergency helicopter service

As preparations have gone smoothly, officials believe the landing and departure area could be ready to begin serving patients as early as next month.

“This really provides an opportunity to get patients to services more quickly for clinical circumstances that most require,” said Shasta Addessi, the vice president of Clinical Service for the medical center operated by Sutter Health.

Once the deck is open for operations, Addessi expects the addition of helicopter transport to be most beneficial in enhancing service for patients experiencing a heart attack, stroke or other medical emergencies in which time is crucial to improving survival rates.

“When minutes matter, it’s another option for transport for patients,” she said.

A previous helipad was closed and demolished in 2011 when the medical center was rebuilt. The new deck, which cost about $2.6 million to construct, is located adjacent to the ambulance dock in the parking lot nearest the emergency patient intake area.

“It works really nicely,” she said. “We are able to get patients in very quickly for emergencies.”

Addessi said she believes the center’s helideck is a rare resource along the Peninsula. There is a deck for helicopters at the Stanford Medical Center serving trauma patients, which the center in Burlingame does not accommodate. The helideck at Mills-Peninsula is open to all Sutter and non-Sutter hospitals.

The opportunity to offer helicopter transport will also enhance the center’s ability to care for patients in far reaching parts of its service area which may be otherwise be difficult to reach with an ambulance, said Addessi.

“A helicopter opens up the capacity for patients that are further away and don’t have access to the high level clinical services that we have here,” she said.

As traffic congestion worsens along many of the Peninsula’s main thoroughfares, with little relief likely on the horizon, Addessi noted helicopter service can avoid many of the commute struggles faced by ground transport.

“The helideck will allow us to bypass any variability with traffic,” she said.

In the case of an earthquake, tsunami or other natural disaster that wipes out the ability to access patients with an ambulance, Addessi said aerial service could also prove invaluable.

“If the freeway and bridges are unavailable, we will be able to accept patients via helicopter,” she said.

Though the deck stands to be a potentially valuable resource for the medical center, Addessi said she did not expect it would be used with a high rate of frequency, but that could change according to demand.

Bob De Mann, project manager for Sutter Health who oversaw construction of the deck, said as helicopter service returns to Mills-Peninsula, flight paths could impact development plans around the medical center.

Most notably, he said the proposed office and residential project planned by the Mills-Peninsula Health Care District on land adjacent to the medical center could be influenced by flight path regulations.

He said health care district officials have worked closely with those at the medical center to assure project design does not conflict with helicopter flight requirements.

“They have accommodated this and will continue to do that,” De Mann said.

Ultimately, Addessi said she believes once the deck is up and running, patients needing immediate care will be well served through aerial transport returning to the Peninsula.

“We are really excited about this,” she said. “It’s a unique resource to have in this community, so we are grateful for having it.”

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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