Trauma Star

Bottom line is that Monroe County residents need an air ambulance. The problem is that do all Monroe County residents need to pay for it or just the people who need the service.

Lets say the Sheriff's Office previals and Trauma Star stays on line and one day this year you need to be life flighted. You will pay a yearly trauma star tax and still be billed $18,000

If you choose no to Trauma Star Life Net will be stationed at Lower Keys Hospital. You wont have to pay a yearly tax but you will still be billed $18,000 Monroe residents will save a few bucks (7 1/2 cents per $1000 taxable value)

The reason I say no to Trauma Star is reguardless or not Life Net will get the majority of the Life Flights. The Trauma Star heavy budget will continue to be on the tax payers.
If Life Net wants a 7 year contract, lets give it to them. Thats 7 years of less taxes for something thats already there.
VOTE NO FOR TRAUMA STAR!!!!!!!

Your right I would rather save money and pay for the service when needed.

Will Life Net land on the highway at an accident scene? What if the crash is in the Marathon area? Will the patient have to be transported by ambulance all the way to Key West to be flown out? I ask this in all seriousness. Our hospitals are pathetic and an air ambulance is invaluable down here.

If Life Net can transport from an accident scene, Trauma Star will not get my vote. Otherwise, until we get a Trauma Center in the Keys, I will vote for Trauma Star.

That is a serious question. Does anyone know the answer. Will LifeNet have landing zones throughout the keys for serious scene pickups? Will Lifenet establish helo's throughout the keys. The "Golden Hour" for trauma is a true real need. Does someone have any insight?
Please post

Only Trauma Star can transport from a crash scene to the Trauma Centers. Life Net is only licensed to transport from hospital to hospital. So with Life Net, an ambulance would have to transport you to Lower Keys Medical Center to get flown out. I think this is very important to know when voting for or against Trauma Star.

Please vote to save the Trauma Star!
Unfortunately you have no idea just how badly you need it here in the Keys until it is your life or the life of your loved one that is being saved. Unfortunately I know first-hand.
My son was hit head-on by a drunk and drugged driver at mile marker 15 about a year and a half ago. When my husband and I received the call we rushed to LKMC as that's where we assumed he'd be taken. I anxiously paced and waited in the parking lot for what seemed to be an eternity. The KWPD officer parked outside put two and two together and realized we were the parents of the child that was hit, the details of which were being relayed over his radio. When he approached me to confirm my identity, all I could muster was to repeatedly beg him to tell me that my son was alive. I knew there were two vehicles and three deaths. When he told me that my son was being loaded onto the Trauma Star and about to be flown to Ryder Trauma Center as we spoke, I fell to my knees on the pavement. I knew then my son was not ok. I clearly remember him picking me up, telling me that I needed to pull myself together for my son and easing my mind by saying that it was the best place for my son to be to get the urgent medical attention he needed. He was right.
My son was completely crushed from the knees down. Whomever it was that made the decision that night to send the Trauma Star to the bridge at mile marker 15 to get my son immediately to the trauma center is credited with saving my child's legs, ankles and feet.
The Trauma Star is there when you need it most; where you need it most. The cost is trivial when it's your life and limbs at stake.

I remember hearing the 911 call for that accident on the Sheriff's website. I hope your son is doing well today.

I remember that crash too----Trauma Star did save your sons life. Im glad I know now that Lifenet is only a hospital based service and is not going to hit any pavement like a true air ambulance does. Im voting for Trauma Star

Keys Marlin wrote:

I remember hearing the 911 call for that accident on the Sheriff's website. I hope your son is doing well today.

We have a copy of the 911 call. To this day it's very emotionally disturbing for me to listen to.

My son is doing better, thank you. It's a miracle that he's alive, much less walking again. Though his amazing surgeon rebuilt him with titanium the best that he could, since his ankles were demolished, he is in need of a total ankle replacement procedure. We are hoping that the technology catches up quickly before his ankles collapse (they are now titanium and cadaver bone).

Though he's been through hell, he has determination that I've never seen in a human being. He knows just how fortunate he is to be alive and lives every second just that way.

hello wrote:

I remember that crash too----Trauma Star did save your sons life. Im glad I know now that Lifenet is only a hospital based service and is not going to hit any pavement like a true air ambulance does. Im voting for Trauma Star

Thank you!! Please tell everyone you know to vote yes as well!

for all to see wrote:

Lets say the Sheriff's Office previals and Trauma Star stays on line and one day this year you need to be life flighted. You will pay a yearly trauma star tax and still be billed $18,000

This is not true. If Trauma Star passes, you will not be billed if you have to be flown. The entire cost is covered by the tax payers at $5 per household per month.

I support Trauma Star 100% since Life Net can only fly from the hospital and not land on the highway.

I early voted today. I voted Yes for Trauma Star!!!

We voted no

We do need a helicopter. We dont need this deal. Trauma star has stunk since its inception. There many unanswered questions on this version. The people behind this have other interests in keeping the current offerings. The list starts with profiteering, keeping a foot in the political spectrum of monroe county, a job after retirement, etc etc.. This proposal is non binding. It was a political move to get support to pressure the no's in the county commission to vote yes. Even if it gets a no vote it will still be an issue. Life net can fullfil everything Trauma star does. Vote no!

Key Largo wrote:

We do need a helicopter. We dont need this deal. Trauma star has stunk since its inception. There many unanswered questions on this version. The people behind this have other interests in keeping the current offerings. The list starts with profiteering, keeping a foot in the political spectrum of monroe county, a job after retirement, etc etc.. This proposal is non binding. It was a political move to get support to pressure the no's in the county commission to vote yes. Even if it gets a no vote it will still be an issue. Life net can fullfil everything Trauma star does. Vote no!

Oh really, since when can Life Net fly to a crash zone and transport directly from the scene to a trauma center? Ever hear of the "Golden Hour?"

And does the mother of the young man with crushed legs have "other interests," like "profiteering" as you put it.

This is typical political propaganda. If you don't want to pay for Trauma Star, just admit it. Don't add a political spin to it.

Not True wrote:

<quoted text>
Oh really, since when can Life Net fly to a crash zone and transport directly from the scene to a trauma center? Ever hear of the "Golden Hour?"
And does the mother of the young man with crushed legs have "other interests," like "profiteering" as you put it.
This is typical political propaganda. If you don't want to pay for Trauma Star, just admit it. Don't add a political spin to it.

Okay I give up who is this David, Rick, George, or mario? What are you making from it. Are you one of the overpaid pilots or the nurses? Like I said we need a service just not your scham! VOTE NO!

If I support Trauma Star, why does that have to mean I'm some sort of politician? That's an aweful cowardly thing to say. Why are you so paranoid?

I will say this one more time and I'll try to type slowly for you. I support Trauma Star because it can transport trauma victims from the accident scene. Life Net can't.

If Life Net could land on the highway at a crash scene, I would vote no to Trauma Star, but that is not the case.

Not True wrote:

If Life Net could land on the highway at a crash scene, I would vote no to Trauma Star, but that is not the case.

This is the single, solitary reason I voted yes to Trauma Star.

On the hospitals helipad right now is the Eurocopter 135. These highly sophisticated medical helicopters become airborne intensive care units for transporting critically ill patients to medical facilities on the mainland. The EC 135 can carry up to 2 patients and up to 4 medical crewmembers at a time and can fly a total distance of 300 miles without refueling. The medical crews of these advanced high-flying air ambulances are the “best of the best.”
VOTE NO ON DEATH STAR

Life net wrote:

On the hospitals helipad right now is the Eurocopter 135. These highly sophisticated medical helicopters become airborne intensive care units for transporting critically ill patients to medical facilities on the mainland. The EC 135 can carry up to 2 patients and up to 4 medical crewmembers at a time and can fly a total distance of 300 miles without refueling. The medical crews of these advanced high-flying air ambulances are the “best of the best.”
VOTE NO ON DEATH STAR

But you have to go to it. It doesn't come to you. Kinda difficult when your almost dead.