Submitted by Bedford Cub Scout Dens 7 and 8, Pack 194
On the evening of November 28th, the Webelo-age (4th grade) Cub Scouts from Pack 194 visited Boston MedFlight at Hanscom Civil Air Terminal. The Webelo scouts were from two dens – Den 7 and Den 8. Eleven Cub Scouts attended the tour, however, the group was over thirty people, counting siblings and parents. The Medflight facility at Hanscom’s Civil Air Terminal is brand new, having recently moved from the military side of the Hanscom facility.
The tour began with a short presentation from chief medical officer Dr. Jason Cohen, of Boston MedFlight. He talked about the history of helicopter use for emergency medical response.
We learned that when soldiers returned from war they had seen how helicopters hastened the response to life-threatening injuries and wanted to use the same technology here at home. Dr. Cohen also talked about MedFlight’s suite of response vehicles which includes ground transportation, helicopters, and a plane. The boys asked many questions of Dr. Cohen and his team of nurses and paramedics.
The tour continued to the training room where training simulations are carried out on an ongoing basis using sophisticated animated medical dummies (adult, child, infant, and preemie). Then we looked at the ground transportation ambulance and got a chance to go inside. We then peeked into the hangar where the fixed-wing aircraft are kept.
The next highlight was going outside to the tarmac to see the MedFlight helicopter, which was truly impressive. The boys got to climb inside and strap in. The crew stated that it takes 8 minutes from the time they get a call before they can be airborne on their way to an accident or transport. Most of the helicopter flights transport patients from smaller regional hospitals to larger hospitals in Boston. A MedFlight helicopter can make it from Emerson Hospital in Concord to Boston in 6 minutes. Only 14% of the helicopter responses are for roadside/remote landings for accidents. The last stop on the tour was “mission control” where a team monitors the location of all of the medical helicopters in New England, the weather, and communications.
MedFlight is a truly impressive organization, not only with state of the art equipment but truly caring staff members at the top of their respective fields. We are fortunate to have this well-run, non-profit organization in our community – while we hope to never need their services. Pack 194 would like to thank Dr. Jason Cohen and his team for a terrific evening and to Den 7 leader, Dr. Alex Brough, for coordinating this visit.
If you’d like to learn more about Cub Scouts in Bedford please visit us on Facebook (Cub Scout Pack 194, Bedford MA) or email us at [email protected].
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