Helo L-Z: Hot, or Not?

[JPINFV]

Hot or not?

... but Will it Blend?

[Niftymedi911]

Almost all scene calls I've had to call for Medstar (our own flight program) they've been "hot" LZ's. There was only one time when they did shut it down......during an arrest which he was also having an MI and the closest hospital that could treat him was 8 minutes by air and approx 30-40 minutes by ground. He went into arrest twice after the chopper had landed. We finally got him back and loaded into the chopper. He stayed with a perfusing rhytym til they got to the hospital.

We're not allowed to approach the helicopter unless instructed to do by flight personel. They have two medics sometimes three. We really don't go near the helicopter unless they need help in loading them into the chopper. We approach from the side, wait for the wave from flight personel, approach to the rear, load and walk straight out from the side away from the helicopter. We don't go to the right of the helicopter when lifting, flight personel do. We stay to the left as not to have to go around the stretcher near the rear blade for safety reasons. Helmets and ear protection are worn at all times.

[Richard B the EMT]

OK, first groupings of answers from JustHelicopters.com

Author: waldo Date: 10/15/2008 7:29:19 PM

Yes, cold turn around times vary widely by aircraft. Most singles are much quicker than most twins. Cool down times vary, systems checks vary, etc.

There is nothing inherently unsafe about hot loading. Solid training (flight crew and responders) and discipline are a requirement, however. Somebody must maintain control of the scene at all times. The fact that you have a running helicopter on the scene needs to be at the forefront of everyone's mind at all times. This is difficult on some calls with multiple agencies responding and/or undisciplined personnel or bystanders in the area. The only option may be to shut down in theses cases.

I have a hard time justifying cold loading a trauma patient unless you operate an aircraft with a very quick cold turnaround. The whole point is rapid transport, no?

This accident was unfortunate but these things happen. Not a lot of margin for error and complacency can kill as easily as ignorance.

Author: gnat Date: 10/15/2008 7:33:46 PM

Waldo is right on! I can only count a very few time I have done a cold trama load. These were mainly due to long patient extrications. I personally don't like to shut down the helicopter. As we all know, theres a small chance it won't start again.

Author: AZ guy Date: 10/15/2008 9:17:31 PM

not sure of this, someone will correct me...

I don't think in this "particular" rescue shutdown was an option... I think this may have been one of those "hillside, rocky terrain, one skid rescues..." which they have done many times before and have trained for it as well... this was a bad accident with an unfortunate outcome...

Author: Elzee Three-Six Date: 10/15/2008 10:24:27 PM

This was a rescue and NOT a medevac. Both people, hikers that were lost and dehydrated, were ambulatory and were being assisted into the helicopter by the trooper/medic when the accident occured. The pilot chose not to shutdown because of the precarious nature of the landing area on a mountain. It was also around 3:30 in the afternoon and not at night. The real sad part is that the pilot had to leave the body of the fallen medic on the mountain top and fly down to a nearby road and shutdown and rescuers had to hike up to retrieve the medic. I would guess from the nature of the injury that their was no doubt the medic was deceased when he flew away. Just a terrible story

.

[2wheelinemt]

when we started 20yrs ago using helo's they came across the river to us and turned the rotatores off but now we use both nj state and pa helo's. they both have their way of doing things, depending on the update of the call also. it has always depended on the pilot. so we prepare for it both on every on our drills we hold. we would hold them twice a yr we have the helo down to drill with us hot and cold so we would stay updated and the newiebs would get updated too and not be scared around it.

[WestSideBorderPatrol]

As far as "hot vs. Cold" loads, we do them all the time in MD, DC, VA, and they pilots will usually only shut down when there is an extended extrication time..

I agree with Former, it really depends on the pilot and if the ground crew is even ready (pt packaged/extricated/or at the lz yet). As part of my EMT program/high school project, I elected to fly with our medevac for a shift and all but 1 call we went on that day were "hot" loads. As with a lot of things, if you don't know how to approach an aircraft properly, ASK!

[Dustdevil]

^

Is that the same type of hot LZ that Hilary Clinton once visited?

ROFL!