Elizabeth Hoadley sleeps with her phone beside her. As the director of sales and marketing for Med-Pac, Inc., she’s made it a priority to be available for her customers around the world, no matter what time they call.
It’s this willingness to jump into action that prompted the initial meeting between Hoadley and Med-Pac president and founder Ralph Braaten.
Nine years ago, Hoadley — a critical care nurse and flight medic — was filling in as a bartender at a local bar. Suddenly, one of the guests went into cardiac arrest. Hoadley vaulted over the bar, performed CPR, and saved the man’s life.
Braaten was among the onlookers that night. Impressed, he later invited Hoadley to bring her expertise to Med-Pac. It was the start of a powerful partnership that has innovated countless solutions for fixed- and rotary-wing air medical service providers worldwide.
Based in Lake Park, Minnesota, Med-Pac has been designing, manufacturing and delivering air medical equipment for more than two decades. Braaten — an aircraft maintenance engineer and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) designated airworthiness representative (DAR) — originally launched with the Med-Pac 400 system, an air ambulance kit that includes a lightweight aluminum stretcher with oxygen supply, air compressor, vacuum pumps and inverters. Several custom accessories are available.
“That was Ralph’s original bed when he started the company,” Hoadley said. “Word of mouth has been key — we feel it’s almost become a legend on fixed-wing platforms. It’s an iconic, tried-and-true airplane system. Everyone knows about it. Now, we’re evolving our product line into rotary-wing, adding more helicopters all the time.”
Stocking solutions
Instead of hunkering down during the COVID-19 pandemic, Med-Pac took a vastly different path.
“We started broadening our product portfolio, including designing isolation stretchers compatible for our Med-Pac 400,” Hoadley said. “We continue to be driven to provide quality products, and we rebuilt for our customers during the pandemic so that when there is an emergency, we have parts available. We make sure we keep different items in stock, so we do not create any delays for our customers. I’m proud to say that most things can be delivered within five business days — including an entire stretcher system.”
During the pandemic, Med-Pac made a habit of saying “yes” when others said “no.” The company completed several custom interiors with medical cabinetry, specializing in one-off designs and special projects.
Braaten and Hoadley love the challenge that comes with innovating solutions for their customers’ lifesaving work.
“It’s been very rewarding for me because I get to design interiors and solutions that I wish I would have had when I was flying,” said Hoadley, who has been a nurse for 27 years and served as a flight medic for 20 years.
“I get really excited about listening to customers’ needs and delivering more than they ever imagined. For example, a German customer was doing humanitarian outreach in Brazil, and we outfitted two Kodiak floatplanes with the capability to do minor surgery right on the Amazon River. I was able to meet the neurosurgeon and his assistant for that project,” she explained. “In Brazil, they usually have very archaic equipment. When they saw our new ultrasound, one that plugs into an iPad with a wand that fits in a pocket, the man cried.”
Another customer flying out of Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan needed a customized trauma IV pole. Hoadley sketched out a design that spanned the entire length of the stretcher, came apart in three pieces, and fit under the bed. Braaten took that sketch, and Med-Pac made and delivered the unit within 21 days.
He and Hoadley even designed a patient loading ramp that can be used on a beach or a floating dock.
With a fully computerized machine shop onsite, Med-Pac builds virtually all of its parts and can even apply powder coating. This allows the company to control its production.
“It’s never longer than two weeks to deliver a full Med-Pac 400 life support system,” Hoadley said. “Again, we’re looking at it differently. We have a lot of inventory on the shelves, so that costs us more. But having to wait 10 weeks for something like an oxygen tank is ridiculous, so when we get to minimums, we re-order.”
Rotary expansion
Already on solid footing in the fixed-wing world, Med-Pac is focused on expanding its rotary-wing product line.
In particular, the company aims to design equipment for platforms that aren’t traditionally used for air medical missions.
“We’ve been evolving into different aircraft that people wish could be medevac in developing countries, like New Guinea,” Hoadley said. “That’s a challenging market for medevac. They have smaller helicopters there. They fly a lot of Robinsons. That’s never been looked at for medevac and now we are designing something to make that a possibility. It will be revolutionary. We have a different way of looking at medevac — we find ways to put a bed in there.”
Both Braaten and Hoadley have been re-energized by the possibilities presented by the helicopter medevac market.
“We love innovating solutions for these other helicopters, and we’re so excited to tackle the aircraft that haven’t been addressed yet … I have a list of helicopters I want to do going forward,” she said. “We have so much fun talking about things we want to do. We’re really trying to do things differently, to be visionaries who give our customers limitless possibilities. We get in there, roll up our sleeves and go to work for them. We’re not just about off-the-shelf — we’re sure going to try to make it happen.”
