HARTFORD – Last August two children were badly hurt in an accident near Interstate 95 exit 9 in Stamford, and Life Star helicopters transported them to Yale-New Haven Hospital. In November 2007, Life Star flew the victim of a fiery collision on Weston Road in Westport from Norwalk Hospital to Yale-New Haven for treatment. In October 2006, Life Star carried a bus driver struck by a tire that crashed through his windshield on I-95 from Stamford Hospital to Yale-New Haven.
For 24 years the state’s two Life Star helicopters, based at Hartford Hospital and Norwich’s William Backus Hospital, have criss-crossed Connecticut’s skies, responding to traumatic accidents or transporting patients from one hospital to another for specialized care. Now supporters say the program will be crippled if legislators endorse a funding cut that Gov. M. Jodi Rell proposed to help fill a gaping budget deficit. “We probably more likely than not would need to cut our aircraft,” said Dr. Kenneth Robinson, medical and program director of Life Star.
According to Robinson, Life Star’s budget is about $6 million a year, and Rell proposed eliminating the state subsidy of $1.39 million. Eliminating one of the helicopters would equal a 40 percent cut in service, Robinson said. Life Star transports about 1,400 patients annually. Such cuts are preferable to tax increases, Rell has said. Three weeks ago Rell released a revised budget proposal for fiscal years 2009-10 and 2010-11. Democratic leaders have pledged to fight the proposal as they negotiate a final budget deal. State Budget Director Robert Genuario, of Norwalk, said the administration does not think state aid, which has been available to Life Star for only a few years, is needed for continued operations. Other hospitals run specialized programs that receive no state subsidies, he said. “This is a specialized grant no one else gets,” Genuario said. But Life Star serves every hospital in the state, Robinson said, “and we assume all the risk.” A service rate increase is not the solution to make up for the $1.39 million cut, he said. “Say, for instance, we respond to a call around the shore and take them to Yale-New Haven. If the patient doesn’t pay us, we don’t ask Yale to pay us,” Robinson said. “And we actually don’t consider ability to pay when accepting a mission or not. We just check the weather and, if we can do it, we do it.” Emergency and medical professionals from lower Fairfield County said they recognize the overall value of Life Star, but it is less critical for this part of the state than it is for more sparsely populated parts. “I think we should continue to support it because it’s good to have available,” said Dr. Michael Carius, chairman of Norwalk Hospital’s emergency department. “But it’s a far greater utility in the sparsely inhabited areas around the state, especially the eastern and northern regions. We’re pretty blessed in Fairfield County with a fairly high concentration of hospitals.”
According to data provided by Life Star, in fiscal years 2007 and 2008 the two helicopters transported 13 patients from Norwalk Hospital, five from Stamford Hospital and 11 from Greenwich Hospital to other medical facilities for treatment. “Stamford Hospital uses the helicopter, but very infrequently,” said Scott Orstad, manager of corporate communications, in an e-mail. “In fact, the hospital has not needed to use Life Star in over 15 months. Stamford Hospital is a Level II trauma center with a full-service heart program, which includes surgery. There are very rare instances where we would need to airlift a patient to another facility. One instance where it may occur is with certain pediatric head trauma cases that would require transport to Yale.” Other Life Star statistics show the helicopters have not landed at any accidents in lower Fairfield County in the past few years. “We don’t use it,” Norwalk Fire Chief Denis McCarthy said. “With the proximity of hospitals in Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport, and the ground transportation is always quicker. You can always get to a hospital driving down the breakdown lane or getting off the highway.” Carius said Norwalk Hospital probably has had more patients brought in by Life Star than transported out. “We were the only hyperbaric chamber in Connecticut” for victims of carbon monoxide poisoning, Carius said. “We got referrals from all over the state, and other states as well.”
