PATIENT LOCATIONS: Like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get!
Bob Sinacola, Air Medical Pilot
As a relatively new pilot to the EMS industry, I have often thought that there should be a more "standard" type of initial information when launching a crew. The pilots that are experienced at a given base know by heart all the typical launch destinations, but there is still room for ambiguity in the initial launch information, and especially true for the newer base pilots. Types of potential launch miscues include cities of the same name in adjacent served states, facilities with similar names, unfamiliar facilities (i.e. hospital names), cities that have multiple facilities with similar names, etc.
These "miscues" are usually not very critical but do sometimes delay launches as pilots scramble to look up information. In rare cases they could cause the crew to initially launch towards a wrong location. Possible suggested format for initial launch information could be: "Facility Name / City / State" (further clarification of exact facility if a city has multiple facilities) or "Scene / Nearest City / State" We serve a three state area and there are cities with the same name in two or three of the states. Giving the Facility Name and the City would sometimes clarify a few moments of apprehension. On a scene flight, giving the nearest city (as opposed to county name) would help the pilot in estimating ETA. Even though, there is always more communication once the aircraft launches to clarify some of the location, LZ, patient information, etc: clear standard information up front just helps those sometimes potentially ambiguous bits of initial launch information that might reduce precious moments of delay.
EDITORS NOTE: NAACS recognizes that this could truly be a potential issue for when working at a new base. Mr. Sinacola makes a valid suggestion that would definitely help relieve this situation. We'd also like to mention that several programs have the Communications Specialist give the "Heading" and "Distance" to both scene and inter-facility flights to reduce this type of misunderstanding. We'd like to thank Mr. Sinacola for his submission and look forward to hearing more information / suggestions from other EMS Pilots.
THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL
Peter Verrault
Winter weather can be a real problem for helicopters. The most dangerous problem is ice. When ice forms on the rotor blades of a helicopter the lift generated by the blades can be seriously reduced. In a fixed wing aircraft it can get to the point where the aircraft cannot stay in the air. The same thing can happen to a helicopter, although it very rarely gets to that point.
What usually happens is that the aircraft starts to feel “rough”. This is caused by two factors.
Ice forms unevenly on the rotor blades so each blade is producing a different amount of lift. This
causes vibration.
As the ice forms, the flexing of the blades can cause it to shed. If the ice sheds unevenly (and in my world it will) the blades become unbalanced because of the differing weight of ice on each blade. This also causes vibration. If there is a lot of ice on the blades and one sheds a large amount the vibration can become very violent very suddenly.
There are two other problems with ice. Ice on the airframe adds weight to the aircraft. This can amount to a substantial weight gain. This will reduce performance and increase the power required. Second, ice can form on the windshield. This can happen suddenly and cause real visibilility problems. On one flight my windshield iced over completely in about three seconds. I had no vision out the front of the aircraft. Luckily, as we descended the ice melted off.
Freezing rain is an obvious culprit. Flying through clouds when it is below freezing is never a good idea. I have even gotten ice flying in above freezing temperatures (7C) and hitting rain falling from very cold air above. The water drops were super-cooled. As soon as they hit the aircraft they froze.
Watch for ice forming on the windshield wiper arms, corners of the windows, door handles, basically anything sticking out into the wind.
If you are in ice, get out of it. If you are not, stay out of it.
