Air Angels: 'We look at what's best for the patient'
Air Angels was founded in 1998 as critical care transportation providers offering service by air and ground.
The company's main business is transporting patients from one facility to another in Illinois, Indiana and surrounding states, said Mike Dermont, director of business development for Air Angels.
(Rich Hein/Sun-Times News Group)
(Photo courtesy Joel Love)
• Online: About Air Angels
Most of the company's transports, about 100 a month, are by ambulance on the ground. They do about 50 air transports a month, he said.
Its main operations are out of DuPage Airport in West Chicago and Clow International Airport in Bolingbrook.
Medicare and Medicaid will reimburse for the transport service, and the company bills insurance companies directly. But Dermont said the company does plenty of transports for which it is not paid.
"A good portion of our work is good will," he said. "We don't check for insurance or anything like that.
"We believe everyone deserves and is entitled to the best medical service available."
In the case of Wednesday night's crash in Aurora that killed three Air Angels crew members and a patient, a baby having epileptic seizures was being transported to one of the top medical facilities in the country for children, Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Dermont said doctors always make the determination to call in air and medical transport for a patient.
Most area hospitals do not have a steadfast policy on when to transport a patient by medical aircraft or by ambulance. Rather, hospital personnel said they evaluate each patient's condition individually.
However, local medical professionals agree that when a patient's condition is life-threatening and time is of the essence, air transportation is preferred.
These conditions include heart attacks, neurological and spinal injuries, and serious pediatric problems.
"We don't take it lightly. We don't just throw anybody in the back of a helicopter," said Judy Anderson, emergency room charge nurse at Provena Mercy Medical Center in Aurora.
"We always look at what's best for the patient."
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF AIR ANGELS CRASH
Photos: Kirstin laid to rest
Photos: Workers fix radio tower
Photos: Copter crash probe begins
Photos: Family's mourning begins
Photos: The victims
Photos: Crash scene
Twitter: Latest developments
Map: Crash site
Tears, rain fall as tiny crash victim buried
Flight nurse a hero: 'Gave his life for little baby'
Hero's selfless final act offers some solace'
Monday stories
NTSB gets surveillance video Leland girl killed in crash laid to rest
Sunday stories
Close-knit town asks to mourn in private
Work finishes on damaged radio tower
Saturday stories
Tower work complete, residents may return
In wind, rain, workers chop up radio tower
Radio tower well-known to local pilots
Friday stories
Radio tower dismantled after helicopter crash
Family of tiniest victim mourns flight crew
Helicopter crash probe could take months
Residents evacuating apartments near tower
Witnesses describe the fiery crash
Air Angels: 'We look at what's best for the patient'
FAA under pressure to improve safety for EMS flights
Crash turns focus on air transport safety
Helicopter crew remembered as heroes
Shock settles on emergency response crews
Thursday stories
Aurora helicopter crash kills Air Angels crew, child
Friends speak of Air Angels crew's dedication
Witness: Debris rained down from the sky
NTSB investigating cause of crash
Police ask residents near crash to evacuate
Last Air Angels crash in Fox Valley 5 years ago
