Sim Shain: How One Paramedic and Paraflight CEO Created a Game-Changing App to Make Organ Donations Faster
(Photo : Sim Shain)

Sim Shain never shies away from finding a solution to the problems that affect his industry. Most recently, the Founder  and CEO of ParaFlight EMS and Aviation and OrganFlights.com found a way to make the process of organ transportation a lot more streamlined. How? By harnessing technology (using an app they built ) to gather a team of experts and a jet or helicopter within a few hours.

How did Shain find himself in the unique position to understand the medical flight industry and the needs of these most delicate patients? Because he's been in the business of flying patients and organs around for nearly ten years and has been a paramedic for even longer. But the story of how he got into the business is the story of fulfilling his life's purpose and keeping a promise to a friend.

A Paramedic and a Plane

Shain began his career by following in his father's footsteps to become a paramedic. But his career found an unexpected direction after responding to the 9-11 disaster and meeting a fellow volunteer. Shain and Steve Zakheim became fast friends, but it was more than a friendship; it was a partnership so effortless that it had to be fate.

Zakheim had a private jet  that he had outfitted with a stretcher and an oxygen tank and needed a paramedic to fly with the patients and provide care. Shain was all too happy to accept the work, and the two managed to bring much good into the world with their philanthropic medical flights. But everything changed when Zakheim became ill in 2012  from his exposure to the 9/11 disaster in NYC . In 2013 he unfortunately passed away.  Prior to his passing, he told Shain he was leaving him his airplane and asked him to start a medical flight company. He also reminded his friend that charity was the most important thing of all. Shain didn't take the airplane in the end, but, moved by his friend, he did begin two flight companies, Paraflight EMS and Aviation, and his most recent endeavor in OrganFlights.com

How to Make Organ Transplant Flights Faster and Easier

An organ transplant is no small thing. Every detail of the process is a delicate dance that has to go exactly right, or the organ will lose viability, and the opportunity to save someone with it will be lost forever. Since the gift of an organ comes with such a high price and has such dire ramifications, getting it wrong is a disservice to everyone involved.

Unfortunately, until recently, the process of arranging for transport was convoluted and involved multiple phone calls by hospital staff. Shain had experienced the difficulties of arranging these vital transports firsthand in his work as a paramedic. He wanted to create something that could allow the hospital staff to concentrate on patients while someone else handled the details.

With his app, the hospital or transplant center can enter the relevant data about the transplant and let OrganFlights.com take it from there. A dispatch team working through the app can then send the alert out to potential team members and aircraft operators who can accept the job right through the app.

"We have 100s of aircraft we have access to thanks to our relationships and alliances with other companies, and we're able to help improve and save even more lives this way," he said. "It's a huge blessing to be able to have this kind of impact."

The dispatch team can continue communication throughout the transport using the app, giving real-time updates to all involved parties. In this way, Shain's app can organize air transport teams, ground transport teams, doctors, perfusionists and hospitals to coordinate the process much more precisely than was previously managed. What does all of this mean for healthcare workers and patients? It means that hospital staff can concentrate on giving them the care they need without diverting their attention to planning the transport.

Not About the Money

Shain loves what he does because caring for others is his true specialty. And he runs his business for the patients, not the profits.

"We don't say no to saving a life," he said. "Nothing else matters but taking care of people when they need it most. Money should never get in the way of that."

Reflecting on his business, he added, "We love what we do because we get to be partners in saving lives, and that's pretty exciting. At the end of our days , we all have to cash our chips in. We only live once, and I can't see myself doing anything else with my life."

About Sim Shain

Sim Shain, Founder, and CEO of ParaFlight EMS and Aviation and OrganFlights.com has led an impressive 28-year career working in the pre-hospital emergency medical space. He is a noteworthy leader who takes on challenging responsibilities leading corporate, medical, and charity flights and missions, specializing in organ transplants.

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