CLOSED HELIPAD A PROBLEM.

Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- With its helipad out of commission since March and no replacement date set, most trauma patients are being rerouted from Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital to Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center, the county's largest trauma center.

The director of the county agency overseeing the transports says patients' outcomes are not jeopardized.

``It is not a bad thing -- where they're trying to rebuild the emergency room and trying to have a bigger capacity,'' said Carol Mayer, director of Los Angeles County's Department of Emergency Services. ``When you're in the air, it's not a big deal to go miles further to the next hospital, because we're only talking a few minutes in air time.''

Trauma patients include those who are injured in traffic accidents, gunshot victims and those who fall from heights greater than 15 feet.

The hospital treats about 35 to 40 trauma patients a month, not including the 10 to 12 patients a month who usually arrive by air. Newhall Memorial's helipad was shut down March 1, 2005, when the $13.6 million expansion of the emergency room began.

Serving an area in north Los Angeles County of more than 674 square miles, the emergency facility was originally designed to care for about 18,000 patients a year, but by 2010 it is expected to serve more than 50,000 patients a year, said Bhavna Mistry, a hospital spokeswoman.

The project, due to be completed by the end of October, will double the size of the facility to about 16,000 square feet. It will feature 33 beds, an increase from the 21 beds now available. Rooms will be dedicated to cardiac care, obstetrics, pediatrics and nuclear or biological emergencies. There will be two triage rooms and a larger waiting room, with a separate area for children, will be provided.

Mayer said the County/USC facility serves the largest volume of emergency-room patients in the county, and probably in the state. In rare cases, when clouds and fog prevent helicopters from landing there, arrangements are made to land at an off-site location and transport patients to the facility in a Fire Department ambulance.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department performs most airlift operations, receiving occasional backup from the Sheriff's Department SWAT-paramedic crews, Mayer said.

Children are airlifted to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, the UCLA Medical Center or the county facility because there are no designated pediatric trauma centers in the San Fernando Valley.

The number of Los Angeles County 911 system transports has grown, from 489,504 in 2001 to 545,464 in 2005. About one-half of 1 percent of those are flown in, and about one-fourth of the total are pediatric cases.

Mayer said helicopters are not the best means of transporting patients. ``There is danger involved in using helicopters in urban settings,'' she said. ``(But) in areas we do not readily have trauma centers, helicopters are a good alternative to ensure we have trauma services.''

A new helipad is not included in the emergency room expansion. Its location will be determined as part of the hospital's master plan, which was twice kicked back to the drawing board by the city's Planning Commission and is due for a City Council hearing in September. Hospital officials hope to have the plan approved by year's end, said Mistry.

judy.orourke(at)dailynews.com

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