Helpers help helipad project take off
Back and forth. Back and forth. The brown cement became as bright as the afternoon sun as volunteers pushed their paint rollers at the helipad behind the old hospital building on Friday afternoon. Even though it was hot in the 90-degree heat, the volunteers didn't complain, even as sweat rolled down their brows and backs. To them, this was no ordinary paint job, it was a labor of love --a labor that could help save a life.
Members of the PHI Flight crews joined forces with Yorktown Lions Club members, along with Yorktown EMS Coordinator Bill Robinson and EMS volunteers and others to paint the helipad last Friday afternoon. The helipad, now decked out with a big, bright red cross with a vivid yellow border, will aid in transporting patients via helicopters to area hospitals.
PHI Flight crews painting the heli-pad were: A.J. Toscano, Flight Nurse; Lynn Vaughan, Flight Nurse; Crystal Tressider, Flight Paramedic; Lee Fernandez, Flight Nurse. The on duty crew was: Walter Marrow, Flight Nurse; Pattie Elmore, Flight Nurse; and Chris Resendez, Pilot.
According to Lion Mike Percer, the Friday afternoon paint job was the crowning achievement to a project that started two years ago. “Yorktown EMS Director Bill Robinson approached me, wanting to know if the Lions Club could help restore the helipad,” Percer said. “I thought this would be a great way to show the community that we [the Lions] care.
“The landing pad had not been used in many years,” Percer recalled. “Trees were overhanging and prohibiting the pad from being used safely. I asked Mike Ressman of Ressman's Tree Service for his help. These trees were more than we could handle. Mike was eager to help, stating, “It maybe me that they have to airlift somewhere someday.” Once the trees were cleared away, we needed fill dirt.
“As luck would have it, Loris Maddox was having her parking lot prepared for asphalt,” Percer continued. “I saw that they were loading some dirt into a truck and asked the driver if he needed a place to dump it. He was happy to move it a short distance.”
Percer said the dirt gave a safe level approach for vehicles to the pad. Percer credits Michael Alvarez of Michael's Custom Fencing for offering a culvert pipe, which was installed by the City of Yorktown. DeWitt County Commissioner Gilbert Pargmann was helpful in installing a base for the road, with his crew applying a top to the base, making the road smooth for stretchers.
Percer said lighting at the helipad presented the biggest challenge. Because power was not needed all the time, it had to be done without an electric bill. “After Roland Ortiz rebuilt the light fixtures at each corner, we connected the lights to an inverter,” Percer said. “This turned out to be the best way to light the pad. Since there was a fence within close proximity to the pad, we needed to place obstruction lights on the posts along the length of the road.”
Percer credited Apple Lumber for their help with needed materials for several of these projects. He also credited Yorktown Hardware for their donations, as well as Alvarez for pressure-washing the pad in preparation for painting the pad.
“It looks great and with this final task being accomplished, it makes all the hours and funds worth it,” Percer said. “This is surely the result of people helping people. Only in a small town can this be achieved. This is just one of the reasons I enjoy being a part of this community.”
-- Story and Group Photo by Mari Gohlke
Aerial photo courtesy of Bill Robinson and PHI
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| Helipad Project Members of the PHI Flight Crews, along with Yorktown EMS volunteers, are pictured painting the helipad last Friday afternoon. (News-View Photo) |