It started out as an average day on March 27, at the Virginia State Police EMS MedFlight I base at Chesterfield County Airport. Pilots, flight nurses, and paramedics went around performing their duties waiting for a call for help that would spring them into action for a rescue mission.
They didn’t have to wait long. The dispatch order came: a 3-year-old was missing in Caroline County, and time was running out. Every second counted as the team assembled. The helicopter which silently rested on a wheeled platform seemingly came to life as it was rolled out of the bay, and as the powerful engines started, the blades on top began to whirl, and a thin spray of dust from the wind blew across the parking lot. The rescue team was lifted into the air in an instant, and the mission began.
Chesterfield Fire and EMS flight
paramedic Nik Ronesi and rescued 3-year-old.
The lost 3-year-old had run after the family’s dog into the woods, and now the child couldn’t be found. Darkness loomed and the temperatures were cold, officials said.
From hundreds of feet in the air, Trooper Pilot 1st Sgt. Jeff Bush, Flight Nurse Jamie Graff and Chesterfield Fire and EMS Flight Paramedic Nik Ronesi scoured the ground looking for any sign of movement.
And then a miracle happened. Ronesi spotted the florescent collar of the family dog. The helicopter landed, and Ronesi navigated waist-high marshland to get the child. The child was scratched up and cold but okay. The paramedic and child went into MedFlight’s safe refuge, quickly being transported to the anxiously waiting parents.
“MedFlight I not only covers Chesterfield but over 30 counties and cities. There are six trooper pilots, five flight nurses, and four Chesterfield flight paramedics,” Bush said.
The winged rescue angel gets quite a workout. In 2019 MedFlight was requested 628 times and flew 297 patients. The Aviation Unit Chesterfield Base was requested 409 times for police missions to include 105 searches.
“In 2020 from Jan.1 to May 31, MedFlight has been requested 183 times and flown 103 patients. The Chesterfield Base has received 148 police requests…searches, surveillance, transportation, etc.” Bush said.
And now, the MedFlight team has acquired two new helicopters which will enable them to advance their rescue work.
“The new helicopters are a Bell 412 – primary duty is MedFlight and rescue mission, capable of carrying two patients and a Bell 407GXi – to back up MedFlight and can carry one patient,” Bush said. “Police missions to include rescue work, searches, repelling and transportation.”
The Bell 412 cost approximately $15.8 million, and the Bell 407 is approximately $4.8 million. Both will be financed with general funds.
Lt. Shawn Rivard has been unit commander since August 2017, previously serving as base commander. Lt. Greg Jones, Chief Flight Paramedic, is the supervisor for the Chesterfield paramedics. Chief Flight Nurse Chris Stevenson is the supervisor for the VCU nurses.
Sergeant Vince Mancano is the Base Commander and a trooper pilot who has been with MedFlight since Nov. 2001 He said, “It’s rewarding to do something positive for the citizens of the Commonwealth.”
