TRAVERSE CITY -- When an emergency calls, it's the North Flight bike medics who gear up and peddle out.
"We can certainly get our bikes through the crowds at a pretty good rate of speed. the ambulances takes a long time, especially during the parades, even on busier nights downtown," says North Flight bike medic, Rick Osburn.
The North Flight bike paramedics are critical, especially during the summer months when you have larger than normal crowds in the area, with events like the National Cherry Festival and parades.
The Munson program started 15 years ago and continues to provide immediate response times to emergency situations.
"We carry just about everything on the bikes that the ambulances carry, except for the stretcher. So, we have the heart monitors, medications and oxygen," says Osburn.
Osburn is one of the ten North Flight bike medics. Two medics are always on duty patrolling the summer events.
Osburn says he'll never forget one specific situation where the bike medics helped save a woman's life.
"The lady actually collapsed right there in the open space when the lady was having a heart attack and the bike medic team was there in a minute and successfully defibrillated the lady and she was taken to the hospital and she talks about it today," says Osburn.
"To have Munson and North Fight be a part of this safety crew is very important to us. We've had incidents over the years. It's nice to have a crew whose on bikes who can easily get through the crowd, come right up and take care of business," says executive director of the National Cherry Festival, Trevor Tkach.
It's all about time when an emergency strikes and for the bike medics, that's their main focus.
"It's our rapid response through the crowds and that's definitely an advantage of the bike medics. We've been doing it for 15 years. A lot of the community gets to know us through the years. We receive a lot of support from the city police downtown," says Osburn.
For more information about the North Flight services click here.
