Emergency Medical Flight To/From North Dakota to Michigan

[jerrodmonaghan]

My fellow Mooney drivers. I am throwing this out there just in case. My mother has stage 4 cancer and was on a trip with my father in North Dakota visiting family. Long story short she possibly needs emergency surgery ASAP but our family would much rather her get care from her attending oncologist in Michigan. Is there anyone in ND or MI that would be willing to transport my parents tomorrow?

 

Thank you

Jerrod

661-972-7223

 

 

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[Will.iam]

Have you contacted angel flight?

[ilovecornfields]

I’m sorry to hear about your mother.

“Emergency surgery” and trips by Mooney don’t seem to go together very well.

Hopefully you are making well-informed medical decisions.

 

[kortopates]

Very sorry to hear this too. But Agreed, Angel flight would not take an emergency flight either. Emergency flights are done by air ambulance services under part 135 regulations with qualified pilots and medical support crew.


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[Dream to fly]

Depending on where they are in ND. There are 2 king airs stationed in Mandan and Bismarck that do angel flights.

Pretty sure Sanford has two fixed wing and two or three helicopters between dickenson, Bismarck, and Minot


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[jerrodmonaghan]

Sorry I could have been A little more specific. This morning doctors discovered a tumor that has pinched her bowel. She is completely ambulatory, cognitive, but to sit in their RV for the 18hr ride back is just too uncomfortable and obviously the sooner she gets surgery the less bacteria etc etc etc. My Mom is a Navy Veteran who worked on many flight lines working on many different aircraft. I will contact Angel flight now. Thank you all


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[kortopates]

In that case, to save you some time, you can start on getting the signed release from her doctor saying she’s okay to travel. see their website or call for details. Good luck!


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[ilovecornfields]

Be careful. It is unlikely a physician would authorize her to fly with a bowel obstruction without an NG tube in place.

 

”It is important to remember that intestinal gas will expand 25% by volume at a cabin altitude of 8000 ft (2438 m). Post-abdominal surgery patients have a rela- tive ileus for several days, thereby putting them at risk for tearing of suture lines, bleeding, and perforation. In addition, stretching gastric or intestinal mucosa may result in hemorrhage from ulcer or suture sites. To be safe, air travel should be discouraged for 1-2 wk after the procedure. (The time could be reduced to 1 wk if the intestinal lumen was not opened.) Likewise, flight would be inadvisable for 24 h following a colonoscopy with a polypectomy procedure because of the large amount of gas still often present in the colon and the risk of unexpected bleeding from the polypectomy site. A patient with an asymptomatic partial small or large bowel obstruction may also be unable to accommodate the gastrointestinal gas expansion during a flight, and should be advised not to travel by air.”

Source: 

https://www.asma.org/asma/media/asma/travel-publications/medguid.pdf

[jlunseth]

angelflightcentral.org will have the information you need. Contact information is on the site. Call them.

They vet the passenger for need and post the flight to an internet bulletin board, where an Angel Flight Command Pilot will pick it up. There is no charge for the flight. Passengers are required to sign a waiver which limits both the pilot and organization’s liability. 

Angel Flight will want medical assurance that the patient can safely fly. 

There are seven Command Pilots based in ND, and many Minnesota pilots and pilots from elsewhere also serve the state. I have flown many Angel Flights to and from points in ND. However, I would not fly someone I do not know unless they sign the waiver and have been cleared through Angel Flight.