(Spartanburg) July 13, 2004 - Med-Trans started using the helicopter a little more than a year ago and it was only three-years-old. The crew called the helicopter Regional One and it served a 200-mile area around Spartanburg. Twenty people rotated shifts working on the chopper.
Four people are confirmed dead. They include three crew members and a patient. The Spartanburg Regional Health Care System says its employees were the pilot, 41-year-old Bob Giard, the flight nurse, 42-year-old Glenda Tessnear, and the paramedic, 31-year-old David Bacon Junior. The patient has not been identified.
Co-workers of the MedEvac team have been putting flowers out on a memorial site in Spartanburg throughout the day on Tuesday.
Spartanburg Regional Hospital CEO and president Ingo Angermeier spoke at an afternoon news conference, "We're not used to being hurt ourselves, we're not used to needing to be cared for. We're hurting today and our flags are at half-mast."
Angermeier says Bacon was dedicated to saving lives, "When he heard about the development of a hospital based helicopter service, he wanted to join immediately. He's worked for the service since its start in May 2003. He dedicated his life to his work and at 5:34 this morning, he gave it."
Regional One program coordinator Doug Silk says Bacon just received his national certification, "It's just kind of odd, because in my inbox this morning, he made a copy of the certificate he just received in the mail yesterday."
Silk says Giard was based in Florida and moved to Spartanburg to dedicate his life to the service, "He loved to fly. This is what he wanted to do."
The hospital CEO says Tessnear was also enthusiastic about joining the service, "She so believed in the service that she initially volunteered for the service, then trained herself, then got that formal training and began work six months as a part time nurse serving helicopter service as well as her NICU duties."
Nurse Kelly Lewis says Tessnear wasn't scheduled to work Tuesday, but then asked someone to switch shifts with her, "She was the best at what she did. There's not another nurse who could challenge her skills, her knowledge and dedication." Tessnear leaves behind a husband and an 18-year-old daughter.
A memorial service has been set up for Thursday morning at 10:00am at the helipad site the crew flew out of.
Updated 10:28pm by BrettWitt
