SHANDSCAIR CELEBRATES 40TH ANNIVERSARY
The critical care transport team has been saving lives in the air since 1980
The idea of going for a ride in a helicopter is thrilling to many — the loud, concussive sounds of the rotors spinning overhead, the sensation of your stomach dropping as the aircraft lifts off, seeing the landscape from a bird’s eye view as it rolls by below. These rides make memories that last a lifetime.
For 40 years, UF Health ShandsCair has been giving helicopter rides that make lasting memories for another reason — for thousands of people, this helicopter ride was the one that saved their life.
ShandsCair, the critical care transport system for UF Health Shands, took off in 1980 and the program has continually grown over the past four decades.
Now, the team of medical professionals and aviation experts is celebrating its 40th anniversary by taking time to reflect on their accomplishments and gearing up for the future. The program planned to celebrate its 40th anniversary in November, but the activities are currently postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We impact the lives of over 7,500 people a year,” said Ed Crews, B.S.N., R.N., EMT-P, R.R.T., CCRN, ShandsCair program director.
While Gainesville residents may be accustomed to seeing the ShandsCair helicopters buzzing to and from the UF Health hospitals, the ShandsCair program is anything but routine. Crews said ShandsCair is one of only a handful of programs in the country with as wide a reach and multiple modes of transport available at any given time.
“We have five helicopters — we have one EC 155, which is the big boy here in Gainesville, and we have four Bell 47s at our outlying bases,” Crews said. “We also have a fleet of jets that we can use. And we currently have nine ambulances, with four more being built.”
Crews said the flight nurses and paramedics are specially trained for their airborne roles.
“They do what we call low-volume skills,” he said. “These are skills that other nurses and paramedics don’t generally do.”
These tasks may include intubation during transport, cricotomies (cutting into the neck and inserting a tube through the patient’s larynx so they can breathe) and inserting a tube through the chest wall to evacuate blood.
“We also do ECMO, which is the highest level of clinical life support,” Crews said. “And we do it 24 hours a day in a very confined, high-stress environment.”
ShandsCair has teams dedicated specifically to pediatric patients and to adult patients.
And, of course, coordinating timely life saving flights and top-level medical expertise is a notable accomplishment in itself.
Crews said the aviation pilots are not medically trained and the flight nurses and paramedics do not receive aviation training. This separation is very intentional. In fact, the pilots are often not even aware of their given mission, other than determining if the crew can safely reach a destination and return to Gainesville. Crews explained that it’s important to the safety of everyone that the pilot’s sole focus is on the viability of a flight, and the medical details and decisions are left to the nurses and paramedics.
“We have a safety culture here,” he said. “And that’s why we’re here 40 years later without any major incidents — thank God no crashes or anything. Part of that is because the pilot has to make a decision to accept or deny a call based on flight conditions, not based on who may be in need of medical treatment. They don’t need that additional stress on them.”
With its military-like discipline, high level of medical expertise and commitment to saving lives, ShandsCair is well-prepared to continue serving Gainesville, the state of Florida and beyond for decades to come.
While being a ShandsCair patient is a far cry from taking a leisurely ride in a helicopter, patients can rest assured knowing they are in the hands of skilled aviation and medical experts who dedicate their lives to saving the lives of others.
REMEMBERING BELOVED SHANDSCAIR TEAM MEMBERS
The UF Health ShandsCair team lost a beloved, longtime member of its team in October when Wade Jones, EMT, passed away following a motorcycle accident while vacationing in Georgia.
Jones began working as a part-time ShandsCair EMT in 1992 before becoming a full-time flight paramedic for adult and pediatric crews in 1995 — the same year Ed Crews, B.S.N., R.N., EMT-P, R.R.T., CCRN, the ShandsCair program director, joined the team. Crews said he worked closely with Jones over the years and the two men were partners from 2007 to 2011.
Jones was passionate about his work saving lives and lived his own life with an adventurous spirit and unconditional love for his family, which includes two daughters and two granddaughters.
He was known as Ice Man among his ShandsCair colleagues because of his ability to remain calm even during the most challenging calls.
Crews said his presence is greatly missed as a member of the ShandsCair team.
Jones was honored with an escorted procession from I-75 to Archer Road — past UF Health Shands — and ending with his family at the Williams-Thomas Funeral Home. Colleagues and friends lined the streets and viewed the procession from rooftops to honor the EMT.
Wade Jones, EMT, is one of three ShandsCair team members, along with Daniela Hofacker, R.N., EMT-P, and Joel Snellgrove, who passed away in recent months.
“These guys came from many different areas and took time out of their day because Wade meant something,” Crews told The Gainesville Sun. “They got to experience the passion that Wade passed along. They returned the love to Wade and Wade’s family.”
More recently, the ShandsCair team lost two more valued members. Flight nurse Daniela Hofacker, B.S.N., R.N., EMT-P, passed away in late February after a battle with cancer, Crews said. And Hofacker’s ShandsCair partner of two years, Joel Snellgrove, EMT-P, C.C.P., passed away in March due to injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. Both were clinicians at The Villages ShandsCair 2 base.
“It is with great sadness and heavy heart that we announce ShandsCair has lost another family member. Joel Snellgrove died last night from injuries as a result from a motorcycle crash,” reads a ShandsCair Facebook post dated March 6. “Joel was a ShandsCair 2 flight paramedic and had been the partner to Daniela Hofacker that we lost this week after a long battle with cancer. Please keep SC2, ShandsCair, and Joel’s loved ones in your prayers and thoughts.”
