Local nonprofit Hospital Wing aims to save lives from above

HARDEMAN COUNTY, Tenn. —  Living in rural West Tennessee can be difficult when dealing with an emergency. Access to hospitals and emergency rooms is sometimes far away, depending on where you live. Communities across the area are getting quick response times with help from a local nonprofit.

In a matter of life or death, timing is everything.

“You see people on their worst day and try to help them through it,” flight nurse Matt Puckett said.

Hospital Wing is a nonprofit air ambulance service. Hardeman County has had a membership for the past three years, covering over 26,000 people.

Corey Madden’s son was rushed to the Bolivar ER in May 2015 and was going to be taken to a children’s hospital by ambulance, which was initially a sigh of relief. “Found out that he was running and tripped, fell, he hit his neck on a wooden rocker,” Madden said.

Hospital Wing left a base out of Selmer and arrived at the Bolivar emergency room approximately 15 minutes later.

“They came and told us they wanted to get him there a little quicker, afraid that his airway was going to be restricted, so they called the helicopter,” Madden said.

More than a year later, Jessica Simmons’ husband was involved in a wreck with an 18-wheeler.

“The heat was 108 degrees without the heat index, and it took them two and a half hours to get him out,” Simmons said. “The impact of the hit was so hard that when they finally got his driver door off, his steering wheel fell out and was a rectangle and no longer a circle.”

Just months ago, Cindy Plunk suffered a heart attack. “And I end up having quadruple bypass surgery,” Plunk said.

“Amazing feeling knowing that I wasn’t going to have to chance riding in an ambulance and maybe not making it,” Plunk said. “I knew that Hospital Wing could get me there in a matter of minutes.”

“I’m sorry, I get emotional,” Plunk said. “It was just a real touching experience knowing that I could have died if this service hadn’t been here.”

All those families were able to benefit from Hospital Wing with no cost at all, but in the heat of the moment, money is the last thing on your mind.

“After the dust settles and everything comes to you, you realize there is an expense for the Hospital Wing that got him there,” Madden said.

“We were in the Med for 32 days,” Simmons said. “And our medical bills were $2.3 million, with Hospital Wing being $25,403 of that.”

Hardeman County Mayor Jimmy Sain says a Hospital Wing membership guarantees no out-of-pocket cost for the patient being flown. The county, however, pays a yearly rate based on the number of calls.

“A lot of people sit on the sidelines and think it could never happen to me, but when it does, it’s awesome to know that you’re not there alone,” Madden said. “Somebody’s going to help you through it, especially financially.”

Mayor Sain says the county has paid less than $25,000 a year, which is less than the cost of one flight. “We are 50 minutes or so from a major trauma center, so it’s real important to have faster access to that kind of care,” Mayor Sain said.

Over the years, hundreds of flights have been made in an effort to save lives.

Madden describes his son’s current condition “He’s great. He’s 7 now, wide open playing sports like nothing ever happened.”

Simmons says her husband has progressed since the wreck. “He will always walk with a limp, but he can actually run now. He can walk now. He is back to work full time.”

As the Hospital Wing crew prepares for takeoff, they’ll always be on standby, saving lives in the sky.