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Tue May 1 15:51:38 BST 2007

Show me a paper that has data that air transport improves outcome in
the US. Every one that I've seen shows no outcome difference. It's
amazing how fast people ignore data when it goes against their biases. 

Bill Bromberg

On 4/30/07, bensonblues at comcast.net <bensonblues at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> Of all the chatter about waiting times, efficiency of air transport,
ad
> nauseum, no one has addressed the risk involved as well as cost
involved.
> Let's look at some facts:
>
> Helicoptor medical transport is very expensive and highly
overutilized in
> the US. (I was a flight nurse for two years at the Detroit Medical
Center,
> '80 - '82, and that is why the program was discontinued). Further, it
is
> dangerous: Crash/fatalities increase 3-fold in the night (lots of
nighttime
> in New Jersy) and 8-fold in bad weather (New Jersey ain't no Key
West). NTSB
> records of EMS helicopter crashes between '83, and '05 revealed 184
> occupants died in 182 EMS helicopter crashes. One in four EMS
helicopters is
> likely to crash during 15 years of service. The death rate for EMS
flight
> crew members is 20 times the rate of all U.S. workers.
>
> One last thing: Look at the transport times a little more
realistically.
> It takes 15 minutes to assemble the crew in the best of circumstances
and
> get them on board (civilian practice requires "cold" boarding and
> disembarkment). It takes at least 5 minutes for the pre-flight check
before
> you can get the rotors turning. Then the flight time (? minutes)
then
> landing - which requires a secured scene. Then you have to shut the
thing
> off, then get out and go to your patient, do what you need to do,
then get
> the patient loaded back on board, redo the pre-flight check, bla-bla.
In
> other words, you don't get one of those things off the ground in 8
minutes
> from the call; it's more like 20.
>
> Call me a ground rig, I'll take my chances - and possibly save some
> over-adrenalized flight crew from disaster.
>
> DB
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-- 
V/R

Forrest Robleto
R House Health & Safety
www.RHouseTraining.com 
FRobleto at RhouseTraining.com 
609-792-9047
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