Alexandria, Va. – Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has presented a $35,000 donation to MedEvac Foundation International,TM its third in a series, completing its total $105,000 pledge to the air-medical charitable and research organization and bringing it into the Foundation’s Chairman’s Circle of $100,000-plus donors.
“The research and education of air-medical transport programs is helping realize Igor Sikorsky’s vision of the helicopter as a vital life-saving aircraft,” said Sikorsky Regional Sales Manager David Grupe. “Our donation will assist our future leaders as they continue to strengthen this vital mission in alignment with our mission to ‘Pioneer flight solutions that bring people safely home everywhere, every time.™’”
“We would like to thank Sikorsky for its generous donation,” said MedEvac Foundation International Chair Kevin Hutton, MD. “This funding goes a long way toward achieving the mission and vision of the Foundation, which is to empower people and organizations to make a difference in medical transport across the globe, and to advance medical transport worldwide through research, education, outreach and charitable services.
The Sikorsky donation will help support implementation of the MedEvac Foundation’s:
• 2009 research and education grants, including an educational webinar on ambulance ground-transfer safety, studies assessing cognitive fatigue in pilots and air-medical crews, and research on the use of ultrasound stroke treatment in helicopter transport;
• Family Grant Fund, which provides financial assistance to families following a fatal air-medical crash; and
• Children’s Scholarship Fund, which supports higher education for children who have lost a parent or guardian as a result of an air-medical accident.
In addition, the Sikorsky pledge supports a newly created Safety Management Training Academy, which debuts June 13-17, 2010, at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, W.V., and the “Vision Zero” program, led by air-medical crash survivor Jonathan Godfrey, RN, which is dedicated to reducing and eliminating medical-transport events that result in serious injury or fatality – through greater safety awareness, vigilance, and avoidance of complacency.
Sikorsky is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX). MedEvac Foundation International is the charitable and research arm of the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS). The donation was presented during the recent Air Medical Transport Conference (AMTC) in San Jose, Calif.
For details about MedEvac Foundation International, or to apply for a grant or donate to the Foundation, contact Amber Bullington at 703-836-8732 or [email protected], or visit www.medevacfoundation.org. For additional information regarding AMTC, see www.aams.org.
