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Michael,
Unfortunately the credibility of the article has to be questioned. If you search for the owner of the website it is linked to an EMS operator who doesn't have a membership program and an unbiased look into the matter should be done instead.
Thanks for the reminder. Merry Christmas. Keep up the good work.
Yes Chaplain Bob Burns flys with the crew and is a member of APFC. To find out more about Flight Chaplains vist www.flightchaplain.org.
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I think this is a great step in the right direction. Ultimately the PIC and crew must use good communication and judgment to avoid having to use their superior skill, but this is another tool that if adopted and actually supported has the potential to enhance safety.
Our prayers are with all the victims and their famlies of the crash.
I think that trying to define numbers for wind limitations enroute are dangerous. However, every aircraft I ever flew had wind limitations for starting, stopping, hovering, and the like. Once those limitations are met, it's a no brainer, you're not flying.
What makes the decision matrix difficult is the almost incalculable number of variables that make wind decisions complex.
Mechanical turbulence at a landing site, even with 20-30K wind may make the site unsuitable. Extreme gust spreads encountered enroute may make patient treatment difficult or impossible. Updrafts and downdrafts encountered around an isolated rain shower or verga might just scare the doo-doo out of everyone and lead to a "abort" decision.
I've had flights over flat ground in steady state 50K wind and it was almost a non-event (other than seeing 80K and 190K on the GPS).
So, here's the deal: The crew needs to be able to talk professionally and make a decision based on the many variables wind presents.
Keep a positive attitude and know that you are in our prayers.
This is fantastic news and well deserved. I work with the folks at NEMSPA, they are all volunteers with full times jobs working and or flying EMS. They are not beholden to any group or association and serve the air medical community with integrity. I especially like their 'No Pressure Initiative'. Membership is inexpensive and comes with a bunch of benefits. Glad to see them acknowledged this way. Nice work guys.
Thanks for this article - for years I have been blathering on about paramedics overdosing patients on O2 without understanding the science behind what they doing. Blasting people with O2 makes you feel better but doesn't necessarily help the pt. The old adage that you can't give too much O2 to the prehospital pt is wrong - Thanks again Rohan
Ms. Amber will definitely be in my prayers! xo
The problem is that we seem to be afraid to speak up and then when we do, it becomes an emotional diatribe rather than a cogent, reasoned, and professional response.
If the weather is below minimums, it's just below minimums. That doesn't have to be a fight; just a statement of fact.
If a combination of issues cause you to refuse a flight, that's what it is. That is, if we have an MEL'd Rad Alt, OK weather at destination with a chance of ice en-route (even if unforcast), questionable winds ... Well then, it's up to the crew to formulate a reason for their decision not to take the flight.
Not to be mafiaesque, but this "isn't personal; it's business." Our response may be that we are sorry we can't take the flight and the company across town can. We just feel that it is unsafe. Now, you may get fired and you may get hammered but that's part of life.
Sometimes, you will get criticized for doing the right thing but, if you stick together as a professional team, things finish well. They get screwed up when we fall into name-calling, nit-picking, and other team destroying, unprofessional behavior.
If management chooses to not defend or support the teams decision, there might be little that one can do about it other than find another job.
Doing the right thing isn't always easy but in our professional environment, emotionalism doesn't work so well.
Patient care should always be priority one...
That being said, the question must always be asked, "What is the best course for the long run?"
It's a necessary truth that bills have to be paid in order for these services to survive. So in this case you have two multi-million dollar helicopters competing for the same business, and only one of them has to work efficiently in order to remain viable... the other answers to no one if their budget goes into the red. Which do you suppose will survive? (And how does that result affect patient care over the long-haul?)
Government agencies MUST NOT compete against free-market resources.
Last week we had a bird strike as well. We had a duck come through the co-pilot windshield on our new EC145! No one was hurt and they used our recently instituted NVG's to land safely in a field just off the highway! Glad everyone is safe in the Duke incident!! Fly safe everyone!
Trauma is coming back.
Due to a massive amount of emails people have sent to NBC complaining about the show being discontinued, they are continuing the show.
NBC was overwhelmed about the surprising popularity of the show, and when word got out about the show being canceled, the ratings spiked massively.
I am actually glad it is coming back, I have began to enjoy the show.
Amber-
Sad to see all of those lives laid out in a graph like that and then to see that back, way back in February 29, 1988 the NTSB made 19 recommendations and here we are over 20 years later still fight the same battle and the FAA remains unwilling to step up and require many things that would help. The bigger shame is that likely one of the reason the Feds don't step up is they get lobby'd by representatives of the larger company's who main goal is maximizing profits.
what do i go to school for to eventually work for a lifeline crew?
"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." - Leonardo Da Vinci
Sure, we may all be "crew" but that doesn't mean that the duty day should be the same for every crew member.
That's why there are different crew duty day and flight time limitations for one and two pilot crews. In the same fashion, there are different duty days for three pilot crews, flight attendants, etc.
It boils down to the individual's courage to say they are tired, regardless of the duty day.
I agree and I'll go one step further and suggest that if your pilot (all of them) isn't going over things with you he (or she) should be. The mentality of the old days (get in and don't touch anything) is really a thing of the ages and can't be a part of modern day CRM. If someone has a chip on their shoulder, an ego in danger of being bruised or is wearing his/her pride on their sleeve then all operations must stop until this matter is resolved. I've been in some very uncomfortable situations with senior med crew and it takes some fortitude to stand on what's right and stand down a mission until you are truly comfortable with the outcome. Too many folks are just outfitted passengers on board these aircraft and it may very well make the difference one day between going home at the end of the shift.
Demand excellence of yourself, set an example and demand it of others, EVERY TIME.
I agree also that the true intent behind the site/article is self serving and the origin is easily ascertained, BUT it does give the consumer valid questions that they might not otherwise think of. Furthermore if you were being sold one of these and I fully expect that before long we will see an 'Extenz' type informercial touting the benefits of these memberships, you would likely come away thinking that if you were having a possible MI or Stroke that you could dial the number and the helicopter would come. I suspect that the number of people with subscriptions that are flown by the program with whom they have a subscription is less than 4% and I suspect that these subscriptions make up a huge amount of profit for the respective company. Also, I suspect that when an aircraft from one of these programs leaves the area because they've sold all of the subscriptions they can, they don't inform all their members whose annual payment is set up on auto-renew. Forgive the cynicism, I'm feeling rather Scroogy. Happy Holidays, may you and your families never need these services. Fly Safe.
When I first got this article I was puzzled since I know Care Flight operates out of Dallas and San Marcos is quite a ways from there. I'll edit the article, thanks for the correction.
Happy Holidays.
I agree, reading actual stories like this area an excellent tool that we can use for discussion and training, not just FNG's but senior crew that may have allowed their tenure dull their involvement. Nice work.
Same here...
I like everyone here I suspect has been on some real tragic calls involving pediatric trauma, abuse and fatalities. I guess you learn to block it, but it's really tough when you see kids the exact same age as your own involved in things like that.