Our Wellington Florida homeschool support group went on this really cool field trip to the Trauma Hawk center right at the West Palm Beach Airport. We had a great turn out with over 50 homeschoolers of all ages. One of the things that I love the most about homeschool field trips and activities is that all the age groups are together and that is great for learning good socialization skills. 

The kids has so much fun. I was so impressed with how polite and courteous the children were. Tristan had a blast. He was able to sit in the pilot's seat of the Trauma Hawk.  

The Trauma Hawk is Palm Beach County's Medivac Helicopter program. The county sponsored a contest with all the children in the county to come up with a name for the helicopter. One boy gave it the name Trauma Hawk and that is how the Trauma Hawk got its' name.

The county pays for the program and they have 2 Helicopters equipped to handle 2 patients each. Trauma is the leading cause of death in Palm Beach County for ages under 40. The first hour after Trauma is the most crucial time.

The Trauma Hawks' mission is to transport victims from anywhere in Palm Beach County to one of the Trauma centers. They also transport to the burn center in Jacksonville and the Children's Hospital in Miami should the Trauma centers not be equipped to handle certain traumas.

The 2 Helicopters are S76C Sikorsky's and have 856  horsepower engines and fly up to 180 mph. It takes about 100 gallons of gasoline to be in flight for one hour including take off and landing. Each helicopter costs $ 7 Million dollars. The Sikorsky in helicopters is like the Mercedes in cars.  They average 3 pick ups per day mostly from Belle Glade, Jupiter and Lake Worth. 

During the Equestrian season they have been flying out to Wellington for Trauma victims that are too serious to go to our Wellington Regional Medical Center which is moments away from anywhere in Wellington or Palms West Hospital which is right across from Wellington on Southern Blvd in Loxahatchee.

From the time the call comes in to the time they take off, only 4.5 minutes have passed by. That is some pretty fast reaction time if you ask me! It takes on average 12.5 minutes to get to most scenes of traumas and less than 1/2 hour to get to Belle Glade which is the farthest west point of the county. The average cost to the insurance company or to the patient is $7,500 per trip. 

There are 2 medics that go on the flight with 1 pilot during the daylight hours and 2 pilots after dark. The kids asked what it takes to be a pilot. Tim Larson who was the Pilot got his flight training and hours in the military. You need 2500 hours of flight time and 5 to 10 years of experience.  

We all learned a lot and I sat there taking all these notes so I could write a post about the Trauma Hawk for our Getting to Know Palm Beach County Series:

CityPlace Is Where Its At In West Palm Beach

Green Cay Nature Center in Boynton Beach

Tiger Shark Cove Park In Wellington 

Florida Everglades Recreation Centers of Restoration 

Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee

International Polo Museum and Hall Of Fame in Lake Worth

Winter Activities in South Florida 

National Horse Show In Wellington Florida 

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