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Sat Oct 11 22:22:24 BST 2008

Yes, but convincing a city/township/county/etc NOT to offer a service is far
more difficult, especially given the misinformed opinion of many members of
the public about helicopters.  Try to get the local board to hinder the
operation of the helicopters and the companies will whip the local residents
into a fervor through a disinformation campaign.

The most effective way to reduce excessive use (other than getting insurance
companies to refuse to pay for the excessive transports) is to convince
local medical directors to establish policies that all cases flown (or
requested to be flown) will be flagged for expedited review and if
inappropriate requests for the helicopter will result in disciplinary action
up to and including termination.  This was the approach used by my former
medical director to great effect.

The other option is to get states to define this sort of behavior (if a
habit is made of it) as a violation of professional conduct by way of
refusing to obey legitimate medical direction orders and to instill the fear
of recourse in the average prehospital provider.  This would help to offset
the attempts by the helicopter companies to buy the favor of EMS personnel
with pizza, rides and trinkets, especially among those who rely upon EMS for
their income.

On Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 5:11 PM, <ALS79 at aol.com> wrote:

> In a message dated 10/11/2008 3:51:21 PM Central Daylight Time,
> stephen.richey at gmail.com writes:
>
>
> > "I was pointing more towards the issue that the government does not have
> > specific powers to limit the creation of a business so long as it does
> not
> > violate existing laws (monopoly, safety, etc).  They lack the authority
> to
> > say "This area already has enough helicopters" or at very least, they are
> > loathe to enforce such regulations."
> >
>
> County and municipal governments frequently grant exclusive EMS franchises
> through the use of uniform ordinances and inter-local cooperative
> agreements.
> Such franchise agreements (contracts) control the level of care, response
> times
> and other areas - all in the name of cost containment and protecting the
> public. And, these franchises have withstood appellate challenge. However,
> controlling the airspace, landing rights and patient care of HEMS may be
> another
> matter altogether. But, there is precedent.
>
> Bob Kellow
>
>
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-- 
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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