Officials: Information on Air Ambulances in Washington Shooting was Wrong

May 05—University of Washington Medicine officials acknowledged Monday that its air-ambulance program gave inaccurate information to the news media last year about the location of its helicopters during the emergency response to the shootings at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.

But while admitting Airlift Northwest provided bad information about how close its choppers were to the scene before being called off, UW Medicine officials continue to say its helicopters were available to transport victims to the state's top trauma hospital.

Airlift Northwest Executive Director Chris Martin said Monday she believed the initial information she provided to The Seattle Times and other news outlets in the days after the shootings was true.

"It was a totally chaotic situation," Martin said. "We went with the information we had at the time."

In October, Martin told The Seattle Times, and later other media, that two choppers deployed to the shooting scene were "hovering" near the school and waiting for directions on where to land so they could airlift victims to Harborview Medical Center.

Instead, Snohomish County dispatchers canceled their request for the choppers, and medics on scene took four critically wounded teenage students by ground ambulance to Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett.

A few days after the Oct. 24 shooting, Airlift Northwest and Harborview officials publicly questioned the response that led the victims to wind up at the Everett hospital, instead of at Harborview.

Local Marysville emergency medical responders defended their on-scene decisions, saying transporting the victims by ambulance for treatment at the Everett hospital was the fastest, best and most appropriate option given the circumstances.

On Monday, Harborview spokeswoman Susan Gregg said the deployed choppers—Airlift 2 and Airlift 5—weren't hovering above the school but actually were 12 to 13 minutes away at 11:07 a.m., the time when they were called off.

Flight logs that provided precise tracking information for choppers became available only about a month after the incident, Gregg added.

"There was no intention of misinformation," Gregg said. "(Martin) had the information she had at the time. It was unfolding, it was moving along."

The Seattle Times first reported about UW Medicine officials' questions about the medical response in a story published Oct. 27. Several other media outlets also reported about the issue.

Dean Shelton, a member of Local 3219, the union that represents 91 Marysville firefighters and paramedics, said Monday he and his colleagues deserve an apology from UW Medicine.

"Some people said some things about the treatment and care, and they're wrong," said Shelton, a captain/paramedic for Marysville Fire District. "My members exceeded industry standards and patient care. What Harborview and Airlift should have done is compliment the work done that day."

Last week, The (Everett) Herald published a story, in part based on flight-log data obtained via a public-records request, saying the two deployed helicopters were each 27 miles away when responders called them off.

Since the story's publication, both Gregg and Martin have said Airlift 6, a third medical helicopter that had not been dispatched, was flying above Everett and could see first-responders on the ground and at the high school.

UW Medicine, in a statement released after The Herald's story, noted the "third helicopter was returning to its Arlington base, was two minutes away over Everett (11:17 a.m.) and could see the event."

"This aircraft was available to land at the scene or the hospital to help with transport, if needed," the statement added.

A timeline released by the Marysville Fire District a few days after the shootings shows the patients were already being transported to Providence or had arrived at the hospital at the time UW Medicine places Airlift 6 over Everett.

Two of the shooting victims eventually were transported to Harborview for care, one by air that arrived at 2:45 p.m. on the day of the shooting, another by ground ambulance, officials said.

In all, 14-year-old Jaylen Fryberg shot five students in the school's cafeteria on Oct. 24, before he fatally shot himself. Zoe Galasso, 14, died that day in the cafeteria. Gia Soriano, 14, died at Providence two days later, and Shaylee Chuckulnaskit, 14, died at Providence a week after the shooting.

Andrew Fryberg, 15, died two weeks after the shooting at Harborview, and Nate Hatch, 15, who also was taken to Harborview, survived a gunshot to his face.

UW Medicine governs King County-owned Harborview Medical Center, the only Level 1 adult and pediatric trauma center in the state. It also operates the nonprofit Airlift Northwest. Providence was rated as a Level 2 trauma center for adults and a Level 3 for patients under 18.

After the shootings, Gregg said UW Medicine and Airlift Northwest have participated in a "closed door" incident debriefing with first responders, Snohomish County EMS and staff from Providence.

"We value the work our early responders provide," Gregg said. "We want to move on, let our community heal and do this in private. There's been a lot of conversations in private; we want to keep those conversations in private."

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