July 26, 2005
Tuesday

Ketchikan, Alaska - For the second time in as many weeks, the critical-care flight team from the Ketchikan station of Guardian Flight have administered the life-saving drug, "TNKase."
 
TNKase is a drug used in heart attack victims to clear the any clots from the arteries of the heart and allow blood and oxygen to return, minimizing any damage.  Unfortunately for some, the drug must be adminsitered in a very short window of time to be effective.  In the rural communites of Southeast Alaska, the chance of getting such a drug in time for it to be effective has been minimal, until now.
 
"In our partnerships with regional air carriers, we are able to reach into some of the smallest communities and bring the same level of care people in an urban center would expect," says Flight Paramedic and Station Manager Ed Fry.  "We can effectively cut down the time to receive such life saving treatment from many hours or even days down to about an hour."
 
In the first instance, Flight Paramedic Fry responded in a float plane opperated by Taquan Air.  In the second instance, Flight Paramedics Chris Roussell and Jason Cerovac were brought to the scene by a helicopter operated by TEMSCO.  In both cases, says Ed Fry, "As a result of our partnerships with these regional air carriers, and our commitment to serving the needs of Southeast, we have most certainly saved the lives of two Alaskans."
 
Guardian Flight is an Alaskan corporation, headquartered in Fairbanks, with stations in Sitka and Ketchikan.  They serve the Ketchikan area with a Guardian Flight Lear Jet based in Ketchikan, and a Beechcraft King Air in Sitka; and through partnerships with the Ketchikan Volunteer Search and Rescue, Taquan Air, TEMSCO Helicopters, and Pacific Air.
 

Source of News:

Guardian Flight

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Ketchikan, Alaska