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Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Last patient on Med Flight that crashed has died

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The patient transported by a Med Flight helicopter that later crashed died hours after arriving at a La Crosse hospital, a coroner said today.

The elderly woman died early Sunday after suffering bleeding in her brain, Crawford County Coroner Joe Morovitz said.

The University of Wisconsin Hospital Med Flight helicopter crashed Saturday night on the way home to Madison after dropping the woman off at Gundersen Lutheran hospital. A surgeon, nurse and pilot on board were killed.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident, which happened shortly after the helicopter took off from the La Crosse airport. Preliminary reports suggest the helicopter collided with a bluff or trees but the cause is unknown.

The patient's death adds another element of sadness to a tragedy that has devastated the medical community in Madison and beyond. Until now, authorities had released little information about the circumstances requiring the flight and what happened to the patient.

``It wasn't just the three dead on the helicopter. There was actually a fourth one,'' Morovitz told The Associated Press. ``It was a lose-lose situation all the way around.''

The woman was suffering from bleeding in her brain, possibly from a stroke or an aneurism, when she was transported from Prairie Du Chien Memorial Hospital to Gundersen Lutheran, Morovitz said.

Neither hospital had any immediate comment on the patient today. Morovitz said she likely needed specialty care available only at Gundersen Lutheran.

Gundersen's medical helicopter, which would usually handle the transfer, was busy responding to a fatal car crash, spokesman Chris Stauffer said. Medical officials asked UW's Med Flight program to help, and it agreed, he said.

Stauffer and UW Hospital spokeswoman Toni Morrissey said such requests for help are routine.

Morovitz said he could not release the deceased woman's name or age because his investigation into her death was not yet complete. But he said he believes the bleeding was caused by a routine medical problem.

The woman died about 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, he said.

Stauffer said federal law prevented him from talking about the patient.

``Everybody is just grieving for the folks at UW Health,'' he said. ``It's a tight-knit community of people who do what they do. Here's a situation where unfortunately a worst-case scenario has become reality. Very sad.''