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News Release: Angels Fly Special Life-Saving Missions for Injured Americans
September 25, 2001— The tragedies of September 11's terrorist attacks halted commercial airline flights, temporarily interrupting the transport of blood, blood products and tissue, including skin graft tissue needed to save the lives of burn patients in hospitals across the country. A miracle then came in the form of "angels with wings" when two air-flight companies offered free transport services to the American Red Cross. AirLifeLine Midwest, a Peoria, Illinois-based humanitarian air care company whose motto is "The shortest distance between Home and Hope," volunteered the services of planes and fuel to transport eleven cases of skin graft tissue from St. Paul, Minnesota and Peoria, Illinois to American Red Cross Tissue Processing headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif. The organization was granted special permission to fly several emergency missions on Sept. 11-12 when the airspace throughout the country was virtually shut down. Because there is only a 90-hour window of opportunity in which human tissue can be used for skin grafts, heart valve transplants and other critical treatments, pilots Lyle Clapper and Norbert Ptaszek had to leave Peoria at 1 a.m. and fly through the night. The mission was successful and the Red Cross processed the donated tissue into products needed for burn victims in New York and Washington, D.C. "AirLifeLine's contribution was critical. Even though we didn't have a specific order for victims of the terrorist attacks, we wanted to make a supply of skin available on the East Coast in case it was needed," said Henry Korent, American Red Cross Tissue Services executive director. Similarly, on Sept. 12, when Akron, Ohio-based Fed Ex Custom Critical learned that Red Cross skin grafts were ready for shipment to Washington, D.C., the emergency carrier arranged for a charter plane to fly the tissue. The sister agency of Federal Express was alerted to the urgent situation by the Federal Aviation Agency. "We carry emergency shipments every day. That's our job. But they are usually industrial. We're glad that we could step in and help at a time like last week's. It was heartwarming," said Joel Childs, FedEx Custom Critical marketing vice-president. Donations of life-saving blood and tissue exemplify the best of the human spirit in response to the needs of Americans affected by this horrific tragedy. American Red Cross tissue is transplanted virtually every day nationwide to help numerous patients in need of skin grafts, orthopedic, neurological, cardiovascular, oral and re-constructive surgery. The American Red Cross Tissue Services is one of the nation's largest tissue recovery and distribution organizations, providing lifesaving and life-enhancing tissue to hospitals since 1982.
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