South Texas' Nonprofit Air Ambulance
While the name HALO is not an acronym for any particular words, it gives an indication of the service provided by the nonprofit air ambulance, HALO-Flight, Inc. Marketing Director Shannon Garcia explained, “According to one of the starting founders, Dr. Glen Wilkinson, DVM, the halo was meant to signify the halo of an angel…. it’s why we use a halo with a star in our logo. ‘Angels in the Sky’ if you will.”
HALO-Flight, Inc. nonprofit air ambulance service can be described as a mobile "ICU" intensive care unit in the air. Chief Medical Officer Randy Endsley said, “We are licensed as an ambulance in the state of Texas, but we perform critical procedures and have the equipment of an emergency department (ultrasound, blood, ventilator, IV pumps etc.)”
HALO-Flight, Inc., headquartered out of Corpus Christi, with two 24-hour operating bases located in Alice and Beeville, has been in operation since 1987. Garcia said, “That’s 37 years of safe, successful transfers.” HALO’s service area will cover up to 23 counties, with 16 primary counties. Garcia noted that both the communications and maintenance departments play very important roles behind the scenes.
The program has a fleet of five helicopters, with one stationed in Alice and in Beeville. HALO-Flight mission ready crews consist of a pilot, Critical Flight Registered Nurse and a Critical Flight Paramedic. HALO-Flight works in partnership with Driscoll. A HALO-Flight helicopter is dedicated for transports between Driscoll Children’s Hospital locations, and housed at Corpus Christi International Airport. On those transports, a HALO-Flight pilot flies with a Driscoll Critical Care Flight Team.
Travis Patterson, CEO of HALO said, “HALO-Flight’s commitment to the South Texas communities we serve is to always provide the best trained pilots, mechanics and clinical staff operating with the most advanced equipment and up to date techniques in the entire air-ambulance industry.”
The crew realizes that having a loved one transported by HALO-Flight is stressful and oftentimes a family member would like to be onboard during the transport. However, due to the limited available space and the amount of necessary equipment onboard, generally passengers are not flown with an adult. Endsley added, “ If the patient is a child, knowing it is beneficial to the child and to the receiving facility, we will make every effort to take a parent. If the child is critical, and there is a lot of work going on, we will elect to have someone drive the family member. This is a medical crew decision.”
HALO-Flight receives two types of calls, 911 and interfacility requests (hospital to hospital). “We do not respond to private citizen requests of the helicopter, except in the case of Guardian Ranch Plan members, who have been trained on what they may call for due to their rural location,” said Garcia. Visit haloflight.org to find more information about the Guardian Membership Program.
In a 911 situation, calls can come in from law enforcement, fire departments and local EMS crews. That happens after an ambulance staff has determined that a patient needs a higher level of care than their local community hospital can provide. In the event of a 911 scenario, the patient is taken to the closest and most appropriate facility.
An attending physician makes the initial request to HALO for an interfacility transport based on the need to get the patient from a community hospital to a definitive care facility, with advanced practitioners, quickly. In the event of an interfacility transport, the crew is told what hospital the patient is being transferred to, as those details have already been worked out.
“In either case, after receiving the initial call, dispatch, HALO’s Operational Control Center, coordinates the ETA "estimated time of arrival" with the pilot of the nearest base who then prepares the critical care crew for the upcoming mission,” Endsley said.
The program’s mission statement states, “HALO-Flight provides a clinically superior, professionally maintained and flown helicopter air-ambulance service to all critically ill or injured persons within our South Texas service area regardless of the patient's ability to pay."
The estimated starting cost of HALO transportation is $35,000. The billing process and insurance filings begin after a patient is flown. HALO-Flight bills Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance companies. No payment is asked for up front.
Though HALO-Flight's nonprofit air ambulance service operates 24 hours a day; certain factors can result in a transport request being denied. Those factors can include severe weather and the weight/size of a patient. Endsley further explains, “We must be able to safely fit the patient into the space within the helicopter and therefore may turn down a flight for this reason. Helicopters are mechanical items. Just like on your car, if there is a problem, it may preclude us from launching. Unlike your car, we will not fly with the ‘engine light’ on. If ANYTHING is not in perfect working condition on the helicopter, the call is reassigned to another helicopter if one is available.
