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About Us
The Air Medical Memorial, a recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was started in 2009 to honor air medical flight crew members who lost their lives in the line of duty.
The AMM collects air medical accident information from a number of sources and conducts research in an effort to create a complete and accurate list of honorees. We encourage individuals who wish to submit additional information or corrections to use our online research form or use the contact information provided below.
Ultimately, the information collected here will be used to create an outdoor memorial. To learn more about the memorial, you can download our Information Presentation using the link below and visit our support page to find out how you can help by making a tax-deductible donation today.
Information Presentation and Location Map
Board Members
Steven A. Sweeney
Co-founder, Board Chair • Tribute Film • Behind the Wings Support Network
ssweeney@airmedicalmemorial.comSteven founded the Air Medical Memorial with his brother Kevin in January, 2009. The Sweeney brothers grew up around the Flight For Life program in Denver and watched the industry grow from its infancy in 1972. Steven works as a Marketing and Creative Director in the Denver metropolitan area. Early in his career, he worked as Investor Relations Manager at Air Methods in Englewood, Colorado.
In 1994, Kevin and Steven lost a friend, Sandy Sigman, when she and pilot Gary McCall went down on Huron Peak in Colorado. A few months earlier, Steven was acting as a flight coordinator at Air Methods when an AirCare helicopter went down in Bluefield, West Virginia killing Anthony Barbee, Karen Canada, Donna Eaton and Michael Travison.
Kevin Sweeney
Co-founder Board Vice Chair
ksweeney@airmedicalmemorial.comKevin grew up being amazed by what helicopters were able to do. This extended to an appreciation for what the crews on medical missions were doing to help others and he was lucky enough to work for AirLife Denver for 9 years. He was also transported by Flight for Life Colorado and flight nurse Sandy Sigman after a climbing accident near Gross Reservoir, west of Denver.
Currently, Kevin works for South Metro Fire Rescue Authority in Centennial, Colorado and dedicates his efforts on the Air Medical Memorial board to two friends lost in air medical accidents, Sandy Sigman and Leslie Feldmann.
Keith M. Johnson
Secretary and Treasurer
kjohnson@airmedicalmemorial.comKeith joined the Air Medical Memorial in mid-2009. Keith is a materials management professional in the Rockford, IL area. He is a member of APICS – the Association for Operations Management, and serves on their Board of Directors as the Great Lakes District Director.
In 2008, Keith was a patient aboard LifeLine Helicopter from St. Anthony Medical Center after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. He came through his surgery successfully and was released 8 days later. Three days after his release, his brother-in-law was killed on MedFlight from the UW Hospital and Clinics after successfully transporting their patient. All three crew members, Dr. Darren Bean, Mark Coyne, RN, and pilot Steve Lipperer were killed when their MedFlight helicopter went down near LaCrosse, WI.
Krista Haugen
Survivor's Garden • Behind the Wings Support Network
khaugen@survivors-network.comKrista is a former flight nurse who lost three friends, Erin Reed, Lois Suzuki, and Steve Smith, to a helicopter EMS crash in 2005. One month later, she was in a helicopter EMS crash and survived. She is now the chair and co-founder of the Survivor's Network for Air & Surface Medical Transport, along with Megan Hamilton, Teresa Pearson, and Jonathan Godfrey. "I am thankful for this opportunity for our groups to collaborate for such an important cause. We must always learn from, remember, and honor those who have gone before us."
Dustin H. Duncan, RN, CEN, CMTE
Public Information and Communications Officer
dhduncan@stcharleshealthcare.orgDustin began his career as a volunteer EMT while attending high school in southeast South Dakota. As an EMT he became aware of the positive impact area air medical transport programs make. That ultimately influenced his pursuit to become a flight nurse. Following three years of nursing experience in the ER, ICU, and in a burn unit, he became a flight nurse and later chief flight nurse with Mercy Flight in north central Montana. He later worked as chief flight nurse and program manager with St. Mary’s CareFlight in western Colorado. He is currently the program manager with AirLink Critical Care Transport in Bend Oregon.
Dustin’s been affected by the loss of friends and several colleagues involved in air medical crashes. Through his work as a board member with Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) and the MedEvac Foundation International, he’s also come to understand how these losses extend to and ultimately affect the families of those lost. He is currently chairperson for the Family Grant Fund and Children’s Scholarship sponsored by the MedEvac Foundation.
Mary Ann Melville
Community Programs • Fallen Angels Charity Golf Tournament
mmelville@airmedicalmemorial.com“If monuments were built to honor people for the way they live their lives, I would be working on building the Air Medical Monument, but unfortunately, that’s not the way it works. So, we honor the lives of those in Air Medical transport by memorializing those we have lost. Because it is important that we Never Forget the commitment they made to save the lives of others and that they gave their lives for that noble cause.”
Mary Ann joined the Sweeney brothers not long after the inception of the Air Medical Memorial. With more than 20 years of active involvement, her connections in the Air Medical transport industry have proved invaluable. She was a Flight Paramedic at MedSTAR in Washington, DC from 1988-1997 where she served on the marketing, education, and safety committees in addition to her flight duties. She was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Association of Flight Paramedics (formerly the NFPA) in 1993 and served on several committees during her 3 year tenure. She was a Conference Director for the annual Clinical Care Conference jointly sponsored by AMPA, ASTNA, and the IAFP in Washington, DC and was a presenter at the National EMS Memorial Service in Roanoke, VA.
“When I was flying and we got report that there was a medevac crash elsewhere, it really hit home; ‘they’re, but for the Grace of God, go I’, but it was brothers and sisters lost. I’ve always thought about them, about their families and what they were going through. I could imagine all too well the profound effect such a tragedy would have on a program. To be given the opportunity to remember and honor those brothers and sisters in the manner with which they are so deserving of, with a national memorial, well, it is a privilege to be involved with such a worthwhile endeavor. I thank you for that privilege and assure you that I will not let our Honorees down.”
- Mary Ann
Michael Eccard
meccard@airmedicalmemorial.comMike has been in EMS since 1994. He worked for both rural and urban services including EMSA. Mike flew with MediFlight for five years until going into the CCU and ER at Oklahoma Heart Hospital. He rejoined his passion for flying once again; this time for EagleMed in April of 2010. Mike is married to Heather (also a CCU RN and former flight Paramedic) and has two amazing children (Josh and Abigail).
On 7/22/2010 Mike’s life was forever changed when he was the sole survivor of a crash during a mission just outside of Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Flight nurse Ryan Duke and pilot Al Harrison were killed. “We will fly together again one day my brother.” - Mike
Liaisons
Timothy Pickering, AAMS President
Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) Liaison
pickeringtim@air-evac.com
Sandy Correia, RN, BSN, CFRN, CCRN, CMTE
Air & Surface Transport Nurses Association (ASTNA) Liaison
scorreia@stanfordmed.orgSandy is currently a Flight Nurse with Stanford Life Flight and has been flying with the program since 1999. Sandy has served on the ASTNA board for the last three years and is currently the Secretary and Treasurer. She is also attending graduate school at UCSF completing her Master of Science in Nursing/Acute Care Nurse Practitioner degree.
Sandy began her EMS career as an EMT at Stanford University in 1990 and has acted as a RN in the Emergency Department at San Francisco General Hospital and critical care units at Stanford prior to working for Stanford Life Flight.
Harinder S. Dhindsa, MD, MPH, MBA
Association of Air Medical Physicians (AMPA) Liaison
hdhindsa@mcvh-vcu.edu
Joseph A. Love MDiv, BSN, RN, CFRN
Association of Professional Flight Chaplains (APFC) Liaison
jlove@flightchaplain.org
Joseph Love’s careers in healthcare, ministry, and medical education span over fifteen years and in various roles including that of certified flight registered nurse (CFRN). Mr. Love’s passion for caring started on his family’s dairy farm and continues to this day in the Association of Professional Flight Chaplains (APFC).
Mr. Love attended and graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing and a minor in Psychology. Upon graduating from Indiana University of Pennsylvania he sensed a call to ministry and he immediately entered into Asbury Theological Seminary. Concurrent with starting his Divinity and Counseling courses at Asbury Theological Seminary, Mr. Love started his nursing career at the University of Kentucky’s Level I Trauma Center where he worked as an intensive care and emergency room nurse. As he finished his last semester at Asbury Theological Seminary online, he moved to Washington D.C. to become a flight nurse with MedSTAR Transport. In 2005 Mr. Love graduated from Asbury Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity and additional training in counseling and leadership.
Mr. Love’s Master of Divinity and Bachelors in Nursing degrees, convergence of flight nurse and pastor, and business experience all are summarized in his call and personal mission statement, provide care to the caregiver.
Alexandra Farnsworth
International Association of Flight Paramedics (IAFP) Liaison
afarnsworth@airmedicalmemorial.comAlex is the IAFP Hawaii State Delegate and is a flight paramedic with Priority 1 Air Rescue. While working as a flight paramedic at Hawaii Air Ambulance Alex experienced the loss of six friends and fellow crewmembers. On January 31, 2004 pilot Ron Laubacher and flight paramedics Mandy Shiraki and J. Daniel Villiaros departed O’ahu for what would be their final mission. The missing aircraft was located on February 2, 2004 on the island of Hawaii with no survivors. On March 8, 2006 pilot Peter Miller, flight nurse Brien Eisaman and flight paramedic Marlena Yomes suffered a fatal accident on the island of Maui.
Christopher Lamb
National Association of Air Medical Communications Specialists (NAACS) Liaison
Mike Biasatti
National EMS Pilots Association (NEMSPA) Liaison
mike@emsflightcrew.com
Volunteers/Supporters
David Kearns
Flight Nurse, Flight For Life Colorado
Jon Stitzinger
Flight Paramedic, STAT MedEvac
stitzingerje@statmedevac.comJon has been involved in EMS since 2005 in California, Alabama, and currently is a flight paramedic with STAT MedEvac in Baltimore, Maryland and a pediatric/neonatal flight paramedic at Children's National Medical Center in Washinton, DC.
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Contact Us
Air Medical Memorial
PO Box 842
Castle Rock, CO 80104
720-340-2040
info@airmedicalmemorial.com
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