News in Brief

HUP, HUP and Away...Again

Staffed by a pilot, a nurse and a paramedic, the helicopter performs inter-hospital transfers and flies patients from emergency scenes to trauma centers. Unlike ordinary land emergency services, PENN-STAR carries units of blood, and its nurses and paramedics can administer more advanced drug therapies when intubating patients.

The second helicopter is based at Wings Field in Whitpain Township, Montgomery County--whose residents account for the largest number of flight missions, according to Dr. C. William Schwab, chief of the division of traumatology and surgical critical care at Penn. "Having this second aircraft will enable us to dramatically decrease the response time to patients who require the specialized care of a trauma center," he said.

Penn's first helicopter, which continues to fly from its helipad atop the Medical Center, operates from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. The new one based at Wings will be in service 24 hours.

Since its inception in June of 1988, PENNSTAR has flown more than 4500 patients, all in accident-free missions. The territory encompasses approximately a 70- to 90-mile radius of the Medical Center; from Harrisburg to the west, Washington, D.C. to the south, New York City to the north, and Cape May to the east.

Safety Update

• Transit Upgrades: The PennBus now runs twice an hour both Eastward and Westward, and the Escort Van service has a set schedule for campus transit stops. See map and schedules in this issue, and additional details on Transportation and Parking's web page, http://www.upenn.edu/transportation/.

• Bail at $500,000: Bail for the two men charged in the armed robbery of September 25, where College Senior Patrick Leroy was shot, was raised to $500,000 apiece Friday, as three more charges of armed robbery were brought against them.

  This was the third bail hearing, and the third set of charges, for Christopher Crawford, 20, and Albert Bandy, 18. They were separately arrested and charged within hours of the 2:40 a.m. incident in which Patrick Leroy was shot. Crawford, alleged to have done the shooting that hospitalized the Penn student for a week, was freed after posting 10% of a bail figure set at $25,000, but was rearrested October 7 on further charges. Bandy has been in jail continously, with bail initially set at $150,000.

• Phone-a-thon: Some 90 parents of students and prospective students from all over the country called in during Sunday afternoon's phone-a-thon on safety, where calls of five to 35 minutes were taken by President Rodin, Provost Stanley Chodorow, and senior officers of the University.

  Among those fielding inquiries about Penn's present safety measures and plans for upgrading were Vice Provost Michael Wachter; Executive Vice President John Fry; Vice Presidents Virginia Clark, Carol Scheman, and Stephen Schutt; Public Safety's Managing Director Tom Seamon and Director of Operations Maureen Rush; and Communications Director Ken Wildes.

Almanac

Volume 43 Number 9
October 22, 1996

Return to Almanac's homepage.

Return to index for this issue.