Thomas Keller of White River, South Dakota, was recently honored with the 2021 Patient of the Year Award during the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) annual Air Medical Transport Conference (AMTC) in Fort Worth, Texas. The Patient of the Year Award is presented by the MedEvac Foundation International and recognizes an emergency medical transport patient whose survival and eventual recovery can be attributed to the medical transport and the team who performed the transport.
34-year-old Keller was severely injured earlier this year after a 315 lb. weight landed on his chest. The injury caused a significant tear in the right ventricle and swelling and bleeding around Keller’s heart. He was immediately transported to Rosebud IHS Hospital, which requested Oglala Lakota Air Rescue to transport him by helicopter directly to the operating room at Monument Health in Rapid City.
“When the patient arrived in the OR, the entire OR team thought he was going to die based on his presentation at that time. He was as close to death as you want to be,” explains Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon Dr. Kalyan Vunnamadala with Monument Health Heart and Vascular Institute. The team attributes Thomas’s amazing recovery to identifying the severity of Thomas’s injuries, the early activation of air transport, Oglala Lakota Air Rescue’s quick response and treatment of cardiogenic shock, and the medical crew’s activation of the Trauma Alert system with Monument Health where Keller underwent an immediate and successful open-heart surgery. “Thank God the OLAR team was close because he would not have made it even another 20 minutes. That crew gave him a chance at life.”
Oglala Lakota Air Rescue, which provides emergency helicopter transport throughout the Pine Ridge Reservation, Southwest South Dakota, and Northwest Nebraska, is being recognized by The MedEvac Foundation International for the team’s tremendous impact on the air medical transport.
“The mission of OLAR is to provide immediate access to life-saving care in the communities we serve,” explains CEO Wade Black. “We appreciate being recognized for our role in Thomas’ amazing story and are proud of the professionalism and focus on patient care that our teams provide day in and day out.”
Thomas Keller and his family were recently able to reunite with the crew that assisted in his transport. No doubt an emotional union, Thomas honored the team with Star Quilts, a Lakota tradition, to thank them for their efforts on the very worst day of his life. Thomas has made a full recovery; he is back to work full time as a Sergeant in the Department of Corrections, as well as chasing after his 7-year-old daughter. Although the scariest moment in his life, Keller stated that he has changed his view on life for the best and is enjoying all the small moments even more.
This press release was prepared and distributed by Double U Communications on behalf of Oglala Lakota Air Rescue.
