Since Congress’ recent failed attempt at passing the Obamacare-lite American Health Care Act, there has been a lot of talk about what we can actually do to improve health care in the country and our state.

As is the case with most concentrated issues like healthcare, the ability to make simple decisions along the way is key to success.

For instance, in the Florida Keys there has been a flurry of back and forth stories and attention about air ambulances. And for good reason. If you have a major accident or heart attack, you need to get to a trauma center quickly.

According to the Florida Department of Health, there are two trauma centers in Broward County, four in Miami-Dade County, and precisely zero in Monroe County. With only one major highway for residents and visitors to get in and out of the Keys, air ambulances are tremendously important there – maybe even more than in any other part of the state.

Right now there are only two air ambulance services that operate in Monroe County – TraumaStar and LifeNet.

TraumaStar, which is based in Marathon Key and operated by the County,and LifeNet, which is  a private air ambulance provider based in Key West. No matter where an accident takes place within Monroe County, the County-owned air ambulance gets the first opportunity to take the call and deploy to the scene. The private service can only respond if the County says no. This county regulation is an anti-competition government interference that can have some very serious unintended consequences.

Last month Florida Keys News reported that a tourist in Key West was in critical condition after a woman was thrown from the scooter she was riding and onto pavement. Luckily, the woman was able to be  air-lifted to Ryder Trauma Center in Miami for treatment.

But here’s the part that bugs me. Although the LifeNet air ambulance base is literally just a few thousand feet away from where the devastating accident took place, the county’s TraumaStar deployed its helicopter to the scene – which was more than 40 miles away from its base, as the crow (or helicopter) flies. That extra distance added a completely unnecessary delay to a trip where someone’s life was literally on the line. And that’s certainly not the only time this kind of scenario has played out.

Don’t get me wrong, I have no doubt both LifeNet and TraumaStar offer high quality emergency air medical services, and without them, many patients would have no hope of getting to a far-off trauma center during a medical emergency.

However, the private service (the one that DOES NOT enjoy the County self-protection) has some advantages for patients, things like on-board blood transfusions and a small fleet of much newer and more state-of-the-art air ambulances.

At the end of the day, if your life is on the line, you don’t care about government bureaucracy – you only want to know you’ll get to a trauma center quickly while receiving the best care possible. That’s why

 

County residents should carefully consider whether the current regulations do more harm than good.

Tourism is the driving economic force in the Keys and with summer just around the corner, visitors from across Florida and the country will undoubtedly flock to the beaches and bars. But don’t you think we owe it to them to provide the most timely and high-quality care possible – especially when someone’s life is on the line?