[CCM-L] Helicopter crashes

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Interesting article on the lack of safety on a lot of these flights:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/09/29/ems.choppers/

On Mon, Sep 29, 2008 at 3:16 PM, Stephen Richey <stephen.richey at gmail.com>wrote:

> Dr. Morgan,
> With all due respect (and I respect you a great deal), I disagree with your
> apples to oranges comparison.  The issue in the US is not the use in rescue
> missions, not the use in the most remote of situations and not the use of
> highly skilled and exquisitely trained military pilots.  The issue is the
> use in every corner of our nation- from the most crowded shopping center
> parking lot to the middle of a cornfield in Nebraska.  To use the example of
> mountain rescue to point to the importance of helicopter EMS is not perhaps
> the best way to settle the matter at hand. It is not the setting where most
> crashes occur and many agencies are not equipped nor qualified to attempt
> such actions.
>
> Mountain flying, even in a fixed wing aircraft in severe clear conditions,
> is a risky proposition.  The skills necessary to safely and effectively
> operate a helicopter at high altitude is simply not taught to the average
> commercial helicopter pilot (because of the low likelihood that pilots will
> ever engage in such flying).  The US military apparently requires special
> qualifications of its helicopter crews for mountain operations, and this
> training is supposedly (according to a former Blackhawk pilot friend of
> mine) among the most difficult training required of helicopter pilots.
>
> Encouraging or even suggesting that your average aeromedical crew could be
> used in these circumstances is toeing terribly close to the line beyond
> which hazards become blatantly unacceptable.  Mountain rescue flying is
> simply something that requires extensive and recurrent training to hone and
> maintain the skills of pilots and the other crewmembers as well.  Given the
> call volume of your average US aeromedical operation, they simply lack the
> time to engage in such measures.   This is one reason why very few services
> will engage in actions and in many cases the military is called to provide
> extraction.  Therefore, a distinction between "rescue" missions and
> "medical" missions  needs to be established and adhered to.
>
> On Mon, Sep 29, 2008 at 12:54 PM, Arthur Morgan <arthurmorgan2 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Ken,
>> In 34 years of mountain rescue I have had only one patient who would
>> certainly have died without helicopter rescue. A few **may** have died. One
>> more would have had a high paraplegia, and a hand-full who would have had
>> worse outcomes, such as leg amputations because of slow extrication times.
>> Many of the rescues were much more convenient because of speed, and
>> certainly easier and more fun.
>> At the cost of one rescuer who died during a helicopter training exercise
>> and thousands of man-hours of training.
>> All this at a cost to the Air Force of millions of rands  - they supplied
>> the helicopters with great pleasure because we gave them training that was
>> as close as possible to battle conditions as can be set up in peace time.
>> Was it worth it to society? I have no idea, but if the average South
>> African ever thought about it, there was probably a comfort factor knowing
>> that a green beast could swoop out of the sky and save a life.
>> Many patients have told me the best sight in the world is the one in the
>> photograph.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Arthur Morgan
>> Anaesthesiologist, Johannesburg, South Africa
>> Cell 'phone number +27-82-457-5948
>> Personal FAX 08667220633
>>
>>
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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
>



-- 
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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