ALERT Endowment
History and Background
Kalispell Regional Medical Center and the A.L.E.R.T. Program have been providing air ambulance rescue in the Flathead Valley for the past 31 years. A.L.E.R.T. has established a reputation for providing one of the most advanced helicopter air ambulance services in the nation.
In 1975, with the ever increasing need to transport critically ill patients from the Flathead Valley to tertiary healthcare facilities from the original Kalispell Hospital, the medical team at KRMC had been considering both ground and fixed-wing or helicopter alternatives for transport of critically ill or injured patients. During this time, in the spring of 1975, a young logger sustained a critical head injury in a remote area and was transported by the only means available, a helicopter patterned after the kind used during the Korean War to transport injured service men.
This style of transport did not allow for treatment during flight and unfortunately the young man died. This tragedy led a professional team at KRMC and a commercial helicopter operation to consider the possibility of developing a coordinated, hospital-based helicopter rescue system. This system would provide primary rescue (in coordination with EMS responders) at the scene, as well as provide transport of critically ill patients from referring hospitals to KRMC or from KRMC to tertiary healthcare centers.
Concepts were formulated to develop such a program, culminating in the development of what was later to be known as A.L.E.R.T. With a leased helicopter based in Kalispell, Montana, the A.L.E.R.T. Program was started. This was the second hospital-based advanced life support helicopter system in the United States and the first such program in rural America. Those who live and work in Northwest Montana have a great deal of pride in this program and its significant history.
A.L.E.R.T. began to face financial difficulties in 1978. The local community rose to this potential crisis with the formation of the A.L.E.R.T. Board. This Board was composed of community members from businesses, primary rescue, logging, and park and forest service representatives. Certain members of the A.L.E.R.T. Board and their families actually provided the initial funding for purchase of the first A.L.E.R.T. helicopter. The Board also anticipated the need for a more widespread effort for community financial support, thus giving rise to the annual A.L.E.R.T. Fundraising Banquet.
In its remarkable thirty-one history, more than 10,500 helicopter missions have been flown by A.L.E.R.T. with over 1100 life salvages. In the year ending 2005, there were over 750 flights and 84 life salvages in the Flathead Valley. One can quickly see how important A.L.E.R.T. is to the residents and visitors in Northwest Montana. One very vital statistic in this life changing and life saving work is that in its thirty-one year history the A.L.E.R.T. Program has been accident-free.
Kalispell Regional Medical Center and the Board of Directors has for thirty-one plus years been committed to financially subsidize this program, meeting the emergency and medical needs of the residents and visitors in the Flathead Valley. But now we need your help!
The need is simple and yet complex. In the year ending 2005 the A.L.E.R.T. Program lost over $501,000. The expenses to operate this program far outweigh what the hospital receives annually in reimbursements to cover the expenses. Private philanthropy is essential to the program to prevent substantial losses from occurring each year.
Imagine for just a minute . . . the Board of Directors of Northwest Healthcare needs to make a business decision. They must decide whether to maintain or discontinue the A.L.E.R.T. Program because they can no longer afford to subsidize a program that has incurred financial deficits each year in excess of $500,000.
If the hospital was just a business, that might be exactly what they would do. The good news is we are not just a business. The medical center has a charitable mission to provide healthcare to everyone in the Flathead Valley regardless of their ability to pay.
Imagine further if you will . . . when Northwest Healthcare loses that amount of money each year to subsidize A.L.E.R.T., the dollars have to come from somewhere. Other healthcare programs could be in jeopardy, or needed technology not purchased. So it is complex as well; what healthcare programs might lose support at the expense of A.L.E.R.T.? We now need to ask our community to help support the A.L.E.R.T. Program.
For the past thirty-one years an increasing perception in this Valley might be that the A.L.E.R.T. annual fund raising banquet has totally funded the A.L.E.R.T. Program. While the money raised at this fund raising event is greatly appreciated, it helps cover only about 6% of the total expenses of this Program. The A.L.E.R.T. budget for FY 2006 predicts a loss from operations of approximately $560,000.
Overview
Kalispell Regional Medical Center (KRMC) is a community-based general acute care medical center serving Northwest Montana. KRMC is a full service hospital providing acute medical care, cardiac care, surgical care, cancer care, obstetrics, rehabilitation and emergency care services. For nearly a century the hospital has not only offered the most advanced and comprehensive medical care, but also the highest-quality medical and patient care.
Kalispell Regional Medical Center attracts dedicated and devoted people; people highly skilled in their medical specialties and in patient care. While they are committed to working on the forefront of medicine, they are also dedicated to serving our patients with compassion and understanding.
Kalispell Regional Medical Center treated more than 7,600 inpatients, 156,021 outpatients and 22,808 emergency patients last year. Emergency room visits are increasing at KRMC on average of 5 to 10 percent each year. With that expected increase, A.L.E.R.T. will be called upon for more air rescues.
It is extremely costly to operate the A.L.E.R.T. Program; its annual operational expenses are projected in Budget FY 2006 to total $1,870,000. This year we have budgeted to receive reimbursements from insurance, private pay and A.L.E.R.T’S annual fund raising event of approximately $1,310,000. Kalispell Regional Medical Center (KRMC) and Northwest Healthcare, the Parent Corporation, subsidize the $560,000 approximate annual shortfall. It is the charitable mission of Northwest Healthcare to help meet the healthcare needs of people in Northwest Montana, and A.L.E.R.T. is an integral part of our mission.
Established treatment protocols
With each air response lift-off, a pilot, a trained and certified flight nurse and a paramedic respond to meet the traumatic medical emergency needs of any individual(s) who requires medical assistance.
The A.L.E.R.T. Program’s primary goal is to respond first to a medical emergency. A second goal is to provide for search and rescue. However, it is important to remember traumatic medical emergencies take priority.
The emergency room physicians serve as medical control for A.L.E.R.T. and all have received training in Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS). All flight nurses and paramedics are trained in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and principals of ATLS. These are pertinent to patients’ care during transport, and allow them to handle in-field trauma emergencies in coordination with ground ambulance and EMS systems. ACLS involves giving life-saving medications and procedures to patients, and this means there is a much greater chance of patient survival.
Effects on individual and family lives
The 82,500 residents of the Flathead Valley have come to rely on A.L.E.R.T. for their medical emergencies. Most residents know of its excellence, and A.L.E.R.T. is an icon in the Valley — no doubt about it! For thirty-one years, residents have seen or heard the helicopter respond to or come back from an emergency or search and rescue effort. If you ask, most residents will tell you they feel comfort knowing A.L.E.R.T. is here, ready to meet the medical emergency needs in Northwest Montana. They know when A.L.E.R.T. lifts off it is going to do its best to either change or save a person’s life. They have confidence in A.L.E.R.T. They have come to expect it. In a Daily Inter Lake article of November 7, 2003, a rescued hunter was quoted as saying, “I can tell you without reservation, we take A.L.E.R.T. for granted” and “without them, (A.L.E.R.T.) I would’ve been in a lot of trouble.”
For the almost three million people who annually visit Northwest Montana, A.L.E.R.T. means more to them than they might even know. Each year as Glacier National Park opens, visitors come from all over the world to enjoy and marvel at one of the most scenic wonders in North America. Unfortunately, while enjoying Northwest Montana and the mountainous region hiking, riding, swimming, boating, skiing or snowmobiling, accidents happen or search and rescue is needed. That is when visitors, individuals and their families come to understand the importance of A.L.E.R.T.
Mission and Vision
The purpose of A.L.E.R.T. is to provide medical air rescue and transport to the residents and visitors of Northwest Montana and to referring hospitals! It is that simple.
Further, the mission of A.L.E.R.T. is to provide search and rescue when not responding to medical related emergencies.
Program Needs
Recently A.L.E.R.T. implemented a “Short-Haul” Rescue Program that now allows A.L.E.R.T. to respond to skiers, snowmobile riders, hunters, hikers, vacationers and others who find themselves, injured in remote places where a helicopter could not possibly land due to treacherous domain. This sometimes means an injured person may endure hours of rescue before arriving at the medical center. As with all types of helicopter-assisted rescue, there are obvious hazards involved. Short-Haul, however, is considered a simpler and safer method in comparison to hoisting or rappelling from the aircraft, both of which involve a helicopter hovering overhead for longer periods.
Here is a brief look at a short-haul mission: The A.L.E.R.T. crew flies as close as possible to the inaccessible person and lands in a suitable staging area. The helicopter is then configured to perform the rescue. A special “long line” rescue rope is connected to the cargo hook underside of the helicopter. The flight paramedic, who is outfitted with a full body rescue harness and medical equipment, hooks in to the far end of the line. The equipment includes a spine board and special protective bag with a built-in suspension harness.
Pre-planning is performed, communications established and safety checks are completed. The helicopter then lifts off, with the flight paramedic suspended on the line about 100 feet below. The pilot then maneuvers and lowers the paramedic as close as possible to the injured person. Once the paramedic is safely at the patient’s side, the helicopter flies away and the patient is then rapidly treated, immobilized on a spine board and placed into a protective bag.
The helicopter returns and flies both the injured and paramedic to the original staging area where everything is disconnected and then the patient is loaded onto the helicopter and transported to the medical center.
Meeting the Challenge
Kalispell Regional Medical Center is committed to supporting A.L.E.R.T., but it now needs help from its residents and visitors.
The very nature of the A.L.E.R.T. Program is “leading edge,” and we’ve expanded the program to include new and innovative rescue methods and the use of night vision goggles. It’s desire to develop other life saving programs is limited only by the need for ongoing funding. To ensure that the A.L.E.R.T. Program continues in the Flathead Valley, we are developing a rapid and focused fund-raising strategy to endow the program to have the necessary funds to fully operate A.L.E.R.T. without experiencing financial loss each year.
Private philanthropy of $5 million over a three-to-five year pledge period is being sought to provide the dollars. The endowment for A.L.E.R.T. will mean that the program will exist in perpetuity because the community responded to the compelling need of saving and changing lives.
Time Line
To fully endow the A.L.E.R.T. Program by 2007.
Recognition
Kalispell Regional Medical Center and its Board of Directors would be honored to have a permanent endowed fund for the A.L.E.R.T. Program, and will be pleased to provide naming recognition to those who support this meaningful endowment.
Recognition will include:
- The Donor(s) name being permanently placed on the prestigious “Wall of Honor” located in the Medical Center’s main front entrance.
- With a six figure pledge commitment to the ALERT Endowment, the Donor(s) name will be permanently placed on the Helicopter Hanger.
There are many ways one can participate in the Endowment for A.L.E.R.T. Separate handouts are available describing in detail the many ways of giving.
Philanthropy…is a natural act of giving, prompted by a spirit of caring and concern for our fellow man.
We respectfully ask your thoughtful consideration in participating with us in helping to secure the future of A.L.E.R.T. for everyone living and vacationing in Northwest Montana.