Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has presented a $35,000 donation to MedEvac Foundation International,TM its third in a series, completing its total $105,000 pledge to the air-medical charitable and research organization and bringing it into the Foundation’s Chairman’s Circle of $100,000-plus donors.
“The research and education of air-medical transport programs is helping realize Igor Sikorsky’s vision of the helicopter as a vital life-saving aircraft,” said Sikorsky Regional Sales Manager David Grupe. “Our donation will assist our future leaders as they continue to strengthen this vital mission in alignment with our mission to ‘Pioneer flight solutions that bring people safely home everywhere, every time.'”
“We would like to thank Sikorsky for its generous donation,” said MedEvac Foundation International Chair Kevin Hutton, MD. “This funding goes a long way toward achieving the mission and vision of the Foundation, which is to empower people and organizations to make a difference in medical transport across the globe, and to advance medical transport worldwide through research, education, outreach and charitable services.
The Sikorsky donation will help support implementation of the MedEvac Foundation’s:
2009 research and education grants, including an educational webinar on ambulance ground-transfer safety, studies assessing cognitive fatigue in pilots and air-medical crews, and research on the use of ultrasound stroke treatment in helicopter transport;
Family Grant Fund, which provides financial assistance to families following a fatal air-medical crash; and
Children’s Scholarship Fund, which supports higher education for children who have lost a parent or guardian as a result of an air-medical accident.
In addition, the Sikorsky pledge supports a newly created Safety Management Training Academy, which debuts June 13 -17, 2010, at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, W.V., and the “Vision Zero” program, led by air-medical crash survivor Jonathan Godfrey, RN, which is dedicated to reducing and eliminating medical-transport events that result in serious injury or fatality through greater safety awareness, vigilance, and avoidance of complacency.
About MedEvac Foundation International
The MedEvac Foundation International is the first organization of its kind to engage, mobilize and empower people and organizations to make a difference in medical transport worldwide. Through research, education, outreach, and charitable services, we seek to improve the safety, quality and delivery of medical transportation for patients everywhere. MedEvac Foundation International is the charitable and research arm of the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS). The donation was presented during the recent Air Medical Transport Conference (AMTC) in San Jose, Calif.
About AAMS
The Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) is the trade association serving the entire air and critical care ground medical transport community. AAMS, together with its charitable arm, MedEvac Foundation International, strives to enhance the medical transport industry by promoting the highest level of industry safety; promoting quality patient care; inspiring commitment to the industry’s work, causes, and viability; and providing superior service to its members.
About Sikorsky
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., based in Stratford, Conn., is a world leader in helicopter design, manufacture and service. Sikorsky is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX). United Technologies Corp., based in Hartford, Conn., provides a broad range of high technology products and support services to the aerospace and building systems industries.
