Local air ambulance saves thousands of lives
A little miracle named Mason almost didn’t happen. His mother, Jessica Solorio, said he was born prematurely and no local hospital was properly equipped for him coming into the world.
“I was five months pregnant and my water broke. And I went to El Centro Regional and they informed me that they were not able to care for a baby that was that little,” Solorio said.
They needed to go to a San Diego hospital immediately, but driving there was out of the question.
Don Wharton, REACH Air Medical Services, said they’re prepared to step in to help in those cases.
“Time could’ve been really working against her had she been driven by ground, taking two to three hours. We fly critically injured and ill patients to higher levels of care,” Wharton said.
He explained that sometimes needed care may be above and beyond what is available locally.
With time running against them, REACH lands one of their helicopters at El Centro Regional to pick up Solorio.
“They told me exactly how long the flight was going to be. What would happen on the flight,” Solorio said.
“The next step is making sure that the patient makes it safely to the helicopter and doing whatever the pilot assures that happens. We don’t know our destination for that patient until we understand what the patient’s injuries are. If it is a burn, we want to get that patient to a burn center. If it’s a pediatric patient, we want to get that patient to a regional pediatric center,” Wharton explained.
They radio San Diego Hospital. The hospital gets ready for Solorio.
Solorio said she was nervous on the flight. She feared going into labor during the trip.
Jesus Rubio, REACH Paramedic, said, “Going to a scene or that inter-facility transfer, we get a little piece of what’s going on with the patient. Just getting one little piece of information, whether it’s they have an airway issue, they have an OB complication, they’re bleeding, they’re able to help us setting up, start pulling medications out,” Rubio said.
Wharton said REACH is ready to face many types of emergencies during flight.
“We’re medicine in motion. We know that we’re bringing that emergency room that i-c-u, that intensive care unit, to the scene. And that patient is getting care that otherwise they would not receive or have access to,” Wharton said.
Rubio explains they have to be mentally prepared to meet any emergency situation, as well.
“They’re badly injured, they might not make it. Having your brain cluttered with that kind of stuff isn’t helpful at all. You really need to have your brain clear and processing of how to help this patient out and not think of the worst outcome. Think about the best possible outcome,” Rubio said.
After an approximate forty-minute trip, they land at San Diego Hospital and Solorio is rushed to the emergency room.
“San Diego was able to keep my baby in my stomach, with my water broke for another week. So they were able to give me steroids and everything to make him stronger. I gave birth a week later,” Solorio said.
Nick Onerato, REACH Paramedic, said he feels they’ve made a difference in many people’s lives.
“If a patient here needs to go to a trauma center, we can get there in 30-40 minutes. Whereas, if we went by the ground it could take two, two-and-a-half hours. We’re saving a lot of time in these crucial moments just by having that bird’s eye view,” Onerato said.
REACH is based at Imperial County Airport in the City of Imperial, serving countywide for nearly 10 years. They have about a dozen highly skilled and trained professionals.
Solorio said if not for REACH, things could have been a lot different for her and her baby.
“If a helicopter wasn’t available, I would’ve had to drive two hours. And, I don’t know what would’ve happened then,” Solorio said.
Today, mason is seven months old, healthy and smiling.
REACH officials told us their biggest accomplishment in the ten years of community service are the thousands of smiles they’ve put on the faces of those they’ve served – including the smile on little Mason’s face.
