Local pilot named AFMA Pilot of the Year and Kentucky’s Finest Pilot
Frank Gulledge is a fortunate man. He is able to do something he loves while helping people in need. Gulledge, who has lived in Brandenburg with his wife, Gail, for the past 19 years, has been a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic (AFMA) for over two years. In honor of his service, he was recently named Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic Pilot of the Year and Kentucky’s Finest Pilot. AFMA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization utilizing over 1,400 volunteer pilots to transport patients for specialized medical care. AFMA matches volunteer pilots to individuals in need. All Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic pilots are licensed by the FAA and are instrument rated. They donate their time, skills, plane and fuel to provide free medical air transportation for those in need. The Angel Flight service is available to children or adult patients needing transportation for medical evaluation, diagnosis or treatment. Patients must be ambulatory, which means they must be able to walk, enter and exit the plane with little or no assistance, and require no medical care (i.e., doctor or nurse) en route. Angel Flight will also fly persons with a compassion need on a case-by-case basis. There must be a financial or compelling need for the flight, and the destination must be within 1,000 miles. AFMA pilots complete an average of 180 missions per month. Gulledge has racked up quite a few of those missions himself. “I can’t tell you a number,” said Gulledge, who guessed it was in excess of 30 in 2006. “All I know is I flew more than any other pilot.” Gulledge is unsure of the exact number of missions because of the way they are tracked. After the assistance request process has been completed, missions are posted on the Angel Flight Web site. Pilots then check the listings and volunteer for flights they’d be interested in taking. AFMA tries to keep each leg (or mission) of a trip under 300 miles to reduce the financial burden on an individual pilot. Therefore, one flight to a distant location may be logged as three separate missions. “If I see those and no one else has them, I’ll just take all three missions,” Gulledge explained. “It’s really one flight for me, but it’s logged as three separate missions.” Gulledge will often stay overnight and bring the same patient back home. Last fall, Gulledge transported the mother-in-law of an Elizabethtown police officer. She needed major surgery, and her family wanted her to have the surgery at Hardin Memorial Hospital. Her physician would allow it only if she were escorted by a registered nurse. The family looked into flying her via an air ambulance service, but the cost – between $11,000 and $12,000 – was prohibitive. The officer knew of Gulledge’s work with Angel Flight and contacted him, asking for assistance. They arranged the flight through AFMA, and, and Gulledge and an RN went to get her. “We got her back here, and it didn’t cost the family a nickel,” said Gulledge. “I enjoy flying,” said Gulledge of his reason for volunteering his time and resources. “If I didn’t enjoy flying, I don’t guess I’d do it. A lot of people enjoy flying, but they don’t have anywhere to go. They just go out on a Sunday afternoon and bore holes in the sky.” Gulledge, however, has both a destination and a purpose, helping people receive the medical care they need. “That’s where the joy comes in,” he said, “knowing you’ve helped someone else.” Gulledge encourages other pilots to become involved with Angel Flight. “We do have a lot of pilots in this part of the country,” he said. “If they meet the qualifications, they might want to join in and provide some assistance as well.” There are no minimum requirements for volunteering, said Gulledge. “You don’t have to do anything. You do it (take a mission) because you have the time and you’d like to go,” he said. “It’s the pleasure of helping somebody while I do something I enjoy – which is flying.” For more information about volunteering with Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic or if you need assistance, log onto www.AngelFlightMidAtlantic.org.
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By SANDRA STONE