Medflight

of the organization’s role is to facilitate getting the availability of beds for patients, which is currently one of the biggest challenges for staff.

“We are transporting patients into Boston but also to other centers in New England due to bed availability,” said Farkas, adding last week a patient had to be taken to a hospital in New Hampshire. “We are also seeing that many small community hospitals are taking patients that would typically come into large centers because they do have bed capacity,” Farkas said.

Boston Medflight, based at Hanscom, averages 15 to 20 transports a day, a number that is similar to pre-pandemic times, but Farkas said in the past week about 40%-45% of those patients are Covid-related calls.

The calls require lots of preparation involving limiting the touching of equipment, reducing time in a patient’s room and extensive decontamination of close-quarters aircrafts and ambulances. Patients also require special medication, ventilators, monitors and other medical supplies. Farkas said the extra care has driven up costs for the nonprofit, which runs solely on private donations and subsidiaries from hospitals. In 2020 the organization cared for more than 4,600 patients and provided over $5 million in free and unreimbursed care to patients with little or no insurance.

Boston Medflight transports only critically ill patients, and even still Critical Care Transport Nurse Todd Sarkisian said the coronavirus patients are some of the worst he’s seen. “When these patients are sick they’re really, really devastatingly sick.”

Farkas added, “They’re very sick and this is the whole age gamut from young people in their 30s up to the older populations.”

But Sarkisian said crew members have become experts in coronavirus transports and have never dealt with a shortage of PPE or other crucial supplies.

There have been “a number” of Boston Medflight staff who have tested positive for coronavirus, which was caught early, Farkas said. Staff is currently in the process of getting vaccinated, with hopes to have all operational and clinical staff taken care of over the next couple of weeks.

Despite the tough times, Sarkisian said, “We have the best job out there.” He added, “We are happy to do these transports. It’s been a difficult time for everybody.”