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Sat Oct 11 21:15:42 BST 2008

On Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 3:58 PM, Mathias Kalkum <listen at doc-kalkum.de>wrote:

> 2. in order to regulate uncontrolled growth, the governments of the
> German states have agreed to control the number *and* location of
> aeromedical services.

This is what needs to happen in the US but I can not foresee it occuring due
to the free market approach we take to almost every aspect of our economy.
If the state governments here were to take control completely, I fear we
would see something akin to the Roman orgy of helicopter use that
characterizes Maryland EMS.

> General aim is to cover the country with a net of
> helicopters, usually with a radius of roughly 50 kms around each base.
> This is due to the average airspeed of the BO 105, which has been the
> standard chopper those days and which allowed a proper timeframe to
> reach any scene. Usually helicopter services do respond to out hospital
> emergencies and do interhospital transfers only occasionally, others are
> of dual use or are designed mainly for interhospital transfers. The
> pressure is high for the later to do nightly dispatches as well.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I was under the impression (courtesy of a
Rettungsassistent friend of mine) that the BO 105s were being phased out of
service in most areas in favor of newer and more "well equipped" (his words,
not mine....and I'm not sure what he meant specifically) helicopters.

6. Most (deadly) accidents are due to alcohol and/or negligence  and
> happen far to often during questionable flights during the night / poor
> weather conditions.

Germany lost a medical helicopter because of an intoxicated crew member or
did I interpret your statement incorrectly? If I did not read that wrong,
when did this happen?  I know it's not an infrequent occurrence in US
general aviation, but it sort of surprises me that such a crash would occur
in aeromedical operations.  However, nothing truly surprises me in US
aeromedical operations- Montana lost one back in the mid 1980s where the
pilot (apparently encouraged by the crew, who were filming it) was chasing
big horn sheep up the side of a mountain while returning to base.

-- 
Stephen L. Richey, CRT
Aviation Injury Research Project Leader
Saginaw Valley State University
Work E-mail: slrichey at svsu.edu
Home Office Phone: 248-366-4452

"It is the characteristic excellence of the strong man that he can bring
momentous issues to the fore and make a decision about them. The weak are
always forced to decide between alternatives they have not chosen
themselves."- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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