WHETSTONE — Whetstone Fire Chief Peter Bidon is under investigation by Arizona Department of Health Services for a decision he made at the scene of a recent vehicle wreck.

Despite the investigation, Bidon stands by the decision, citing a list of reasons for his actions.

The incident in question involves a Dec. 5 two-car wreck on Highway 82 west of Tombstone where Christina Waller, 14, was killed at the scene and Chad Labanow, 16, and Charles Zimmerman, 74, were flown to University Medical Center in Tucson for treatment.

Laura Oxley, public information officer for Arizona Department of Health Services, confirmed the department is conducting “an open investigation into the circumstances surrounding the (Dec. 5) accident and what happened.”

Whetstone Fire Chief Pete Bidon (Herald/Review file photo)

The investigation could take up to eight months.

Bidon, who was the first responder on scene, is being criticized for calling air ambulances through Arizona LifeLine directly, instead of going through a dispatcher that would have sent the two closest medical helicopters.

LifeNet Arizona, a company with an air ambulance housed at Sierra Vista Regional Health Center, and Air Evac, with an air ambulance at Sierra Vista airport, had available helicopters at the time of the wreck and would most likely have been dispatched if Bidon had not called LifeLine directly. The two LifeLine helicopters traveled from Douglas and Nogales.

Tucson Meds, an emergency response dispatching service owned by the city of Tucson tracks helicopters and other emergency medical service responders and gives local dispatchers information about the closest and most available ambulances.

Bidon’s decision not to go through Tucson Meds when he made the call for LifeLine is also being questioned.

So why did Bidon call helicopters that would take an additional 20 minutes to reach the scene when there were two other air ambulances in close proximity, about five minutes flight time?

“When I called those two helicopters, I knew how long it was going to take to extricate those people out of their vehicles,” Bidon said. “I had an incident action plan and those two helicopters arrived just as we disentangled the cars from the patients and got them out safely.”

Extrication equipment from Whetstone Fire Station took about 15 minutes to arrive on scene. The ambulance arrived right behind Bidon, who immediately assigned triage, and then called for more help.

 “I functioned as an incident commander, not as a paramedic,” he said. “I had nobody available to land a helicopter, as we had a limited number of people at the scene.”

Bidon said he knew it would take about 25 minutes to extricate the accident victims, the same estimated time of arrival he was given by the two air ambulances that he called.

“LifeLine’s ETA fit into my incident command plan,” said Bidon, who also is a paramedic for LifeLine.

He argues that, had helicopters arrived prior to that time, they would have had to wait until rescue crews on the ground could secure a safe landing zone, as ground crews were busy extricating and helping the accident victims. And he says the fact that he works for LifeLine had nothing to do with his decision that day.

“We were extremely busy because of the magnitude of the accident,” Bidon recalled. “Initially, we had three people on scene. Two others arrived a few minutes later, and two more arrived shortly after that.”

As the incident commander, Bidon said his top priority is to get the best possible assistance to the crash victims as quickly as possible. After assessing the scene, Bidon said he called for resources, directed the resources and came up with an action plan.

“Everything went like clockwork,” the fire chief added. “At no time was patient care compromised or mode of transport for the patients delayed.”

Referencing an accident log, Bidon said the first helicopter landed at 2:07 p.m. and left the scene at 2:13 p.m. Bidon also has a tape recording of his conversations with dispatchers during the accident.

“The second patient was handed off five minutes later to the other helicopter,” he said.

LifeNet sent a helicopter to the scene, too, though they were not dispatched by Bidon. LifeNet’s helicopter reached the scene before the other two air ambulances. Bidon said he and other emergency responders were too busy to take the time to secure a landing zone for the helicopter circling overhead.

Based on the taped conversation, LifeNet was told that once a landing zone could be secured, Bidon would be willing to use their air ambulance if the LifeLine helicopters had not yet arrived by the time the patients were extricated. However, because of the time it took to disentangle the accident victims from their vehicles, the other two helicopters were on scene when the extrication was completed, and it was not necessary to use the LifeNet helicopter.

“The safety of the two patients and emergency responders on the ground are a top priority,” Bidon said. “When LifeNet’s ship arrived, we did not have time to secure a safe landing zone, and they were told that. I did not refuse to speak to them.”

Bidon said he and his staff have had problems with LifeNet in prior incidents, and while he has submitted those grievances with the Southeast Arizona Emergency Medical Services Council, he says he has received no feedback or response from LifeNet. Some of those complaints, filed on an official SEAMS Regional Air Ambulance Quality Improvement Screening Form, go as far back as last July. Bidon says other air ambulance companies respond to complaints within 24 hours after receiving them.

“We’ve had problems with them belittling my staff and treating my medics in a disrespectful, condescending tone,” Bidon said. “We had an incident where a flight nurse was not only rude to my medic, but was rude to the patient. On that same call, LifeNet disregarded our recommendation to transport the patient to a trauma center, and flew the person to Sierra Vista Regional Health Center instead. If we had wanted the patient to go to the local hospital, we would have transported the person in one of our ambulances.”

In a related complaint against LifeNet, Whetstone firefighter/paramedic David Harnden writes his account of how he and some of his partners were treated by a LifeNet nurse while at the scene of an accident.

“After this call I felt utterly and completely disrespected, unvalued, unappreciated and looked down upon as a nobody because of the flight nurse’s attitude towards myself and my partners. This was an unprofessional act in every way,” Harnden writes in the complaint.

In addition to the way his staff is treated, Bidon said he has had problems with LifeNet’s estimated time of arrival, which has been off by as much as 20 minutes.

Rick Weiler, program director for LifeNet Arizona, said that because Bidon’s complaints have gone through SEAMS, his company responded to SEAMS directly.

“It was the proper protocol at that time,” Weiler said. “That policy has since changed, and we now respond to both SEAMS and the EMS agency filing the concerns.”

In addition, Weiler said he came to Sierra Vista on Nov. 13 to meet with air providers and emergency medical service agencies and addressed such concerns at that meeting.

Taylor Payson, executive director of SEAMS, did not want to comment because the Dec. 5 incident is under investigation.

Bidon also talked about problems he’s encountered with Tucson MEDS, the emergency dispatching service run by the city of Tucson.

“When we use Tucson MEDS, our call goes through three or four different dispatchers,” Bidon said. “Critical information will sometimes get lost as a result. We’ve had helicopters sent 40 miles out of their way because of mistakes in directions. That’s why I prefer to call for air ambulances directly.”

Isaiah Twombly, communications center administrator for Tucson MEDS, said it’s common for rural area emergency responders to utilize the services of Tucson MEDS since helicopters typically transport to major hospitals in metropolitan Tucson.

“If we get calls from anyone outside the dispatch area, we make a decision on the closest air ambulances since we have the ability to track their locations,” Twombly said.

Even when air ambulances are called directly, as in the case of the Dec. 5 crash, their dispatchers are expected to let Tucson MEDS know about the call and where they’re responding.

“LifeLine should have contacted Tucson MEDS because they participate in this whole agreement,” Twombly said.

Bidon said LifeLine informed Tucson of its intent to respond to the crash.

Bidon’s grievances are directed toward LifeNet and do not include the other three air ambulance companies — LifeLine, Air Evac or the Tucson Rangers — that are dispatched through Tucson MEDS. He says the only reason he did not contact Air Evac the day of the accident was because he did not have the company’s number. Bidon now has the number and says he will contact Air Evac in the future.

And if directed by the Department of Health Services to quit working for the LifeLine, Bidon said he would do it.

“If worse comes to worst, I can resign from LifeLine in a heartbeat,” he said. “If the state of Arizona directs me to use LifeNet, then I’ll use them.”

Bidon added, “What is important for people to understand is that at no time in my decision did I ever compromise the well-being or safety of the patients. I had an incident action plan, and I knew I had about 25 minutes before those patients could be extricated from their vehicles. That gave me ample time to get those helicopters there and secure a landing zone. We will never land a helicopter if we do not first secure a landing zone.”

Herald/Review reporter Dana Cole can be reached at 515-4618 or by e-mail at dana.cole@svherald.com.