Air Corps air ambulance

[Helihead]

The bitter axe grinding is very evident.

It's called trying to educate and see if the service can be improved Rhodes. You are one of the few that continues to use "CHC" in your threads, CHC don't make policy, Government departments do. As a by the way I have had a look at medevac 112 FB page which is very good. In all the photos showing the 139 landing here and there over the last number of years. There isn't one of those sites an S-92 could not land on or in.

[Brian McGrath]

Going slightly off topic here but just wondering what the views of you guys are about the current SAR bases for the Coastguard, I always thought that the bases would be located in Dublin as it is for 116, 117 in Cork, 115 in Galway and 118 in Sligo or Donegal, given that all of the Islands that require medevacs are off the West and North West Coast and almost all SAR tasks take place in these locations.

[DeV]

Medevac 112 is typically airborne within 7 minutes (guaranteed to have an AP onboard (unlike IRCG)).

The S92s are primarily tasked with SAR (air ambulance was included in the contract).

Medevac 112's hours I did find before (can't now) but it isn't 24/7 (and doesn't claim to be).

This link is interesting:

http://www.phecit.ie/PHECC/Publications_and_Resources/Newsletters/Newsletter_Itmes/Winter_2013/The_Emergency_Aeromedical_Service.aspx

I say again, this is AC establishment-v-strength (personnel in career breaks are included, where a rank is left out establishment and strength are equal):
Lt Col 14/11
Comdt 36/32
Capt 65/59
Lt 48/25
CS 56/53
Sgt 131/121
Cpl 183/161
Pte 324/257

There are a total 138 vacancies in the AC, 23 of them are Lts, 6 Capts and 4 Comdts (those are the general ranks of pilots).
Lt's should be doing most of the flying, there strength is half there establishment!

Even if all these vacancies are non-flying, a pilot could be filling in.

Most of the vacancies in the AC are for Airmen (67), guess what rank mainly does maint? There are also vacancies for 22 Cpls and 10 Sgts. Gain can't say they are all techs.

CHC has the advantage of no public service pay cuts, pension levies, recruitment bans, not having to train people from scratch etc

[DeV]

It's called trying to educate and see if the service can be improved Rhodes. You are one of the few that continues to use "CHC" in your threads, CHC don't make policy, Government departments do. As a by the way I have had a look at medevac 112 FB page which is very good. In all the photos showing the 139 landing here and there over the last number of years. There isn't one of those sites an S-92 could not land on or in.

Did you recce all the sites?

The DF and AC don't make policy either!

[Brian McGrath]

Picture from UHG last week showing the co-operation between the Air Corps and Coastguard, 118 landed first then moved to the football pith to let 112 in.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h58/brian_photos/10007243_836402326439560_1350063915108087736_o_zpsrdsi947d.jpg

[Helihead]

Did you recce all the sites?

The DF and AC don't make policy either!

No, I looked at the photos. All the sites look large and flat.... and the rest, its not the rocket science certain individuals here are making it out to be. As I understand it most of the sites on a NAC web site used for land on are football pitches and supported by the photos.

Never said they did, to the last bit.

[DeV]

Link?

[DeV]

I'm sure you'll agree that air ambulance (HEMS scene to hospital) is a lot more mature in the UK than it is here?!

The CAA only allowed it from 2013!

[GoneToTheCanner]

The Air Corps learned the hard way that all heli landing sites are not created equal, as far back as Fastnet.....the Gardai were supposed to build a lot of pads at the bigger stations, to back up the existing pads in Army barracks and quite a few of those pads left a lot to be desired. I know of one that was literally only fit to park cars on,as it is surrounded by wires and far too small so it was rejected by the Don. Even the Army wanted to keep the helicopters off their precious squares in some barracks! The arrival of the S-61 required a lot of the existing pads to be withdrawn, including quite a few at hospitals and the need for night utility has also required a lot of the pads to be redrawn from scratch.

[Flamingo]

Not in Galway, the have a dedicated unit seperate to the A & E unit with staff ready to operate on a patient as soon as they arrive in, huge number of patients owe their live to these Doctors, Medevac 112 and the HSE crews

I'm sure they do. I'm just a bit cynical about the cost / benefit of an air ambulance over a normal ground ambulance in a large number of cases where I have seen it used in the past.

I've known one case (in London) where the casualty was driven further to a suitable landing spot than it would have taken to get them to an A&E that had the expertise to deal with them, and they were then flown across London. They didn't survive.

I know it's a valuable tool, but there can be a certain amount of willy-waving about the whole concept.

[CTU]

I'm sure they do. I'm just a bit cynical about the cost / benefit of an air ambulance over a normal ground ambulance in a large number of cases where I have seen it used in the past.

I've known one case (in London) where the casualty was driven further to a suitable landing spot than it would have taken to get them to an A&E that had the expertise to deal with them, and they were then flown across London. They didn't survive.

I know it's a valuable tool, but there can be a certain amount of willy-waving about the whole concept.

To be honest if the London Ambulance Services requests HEMS, then the patient is in a bad way and has a 50/50 chance of survival, I know this from personal experince twice, Once with a relative who survived against all odd's and the other time with a relative of someone I went to school with who didn't survive.

Also don't forget Fabrice Muamba was driven 6 miles to a specialist hart centre when there was 2 A&Es closer to White Hart Lane, one of which was only a mile away from the stadium.

[Flamingo]

I know that a bog-standard A&E might not be the best place depending on the injury, and at this stage the "Do we really nead an air ambulance?" arguement is for another place and time, but not every casualty needs an air ambulance or a fully equipped trauma centre. Both of these are expensive resources, but there can be an element of "We use them because we can" about the whole thing. Looking at the various fly on the wall documentries about Air Ambulance calls in the UK, I see very few injuries that thirty years ago would just have been thrown into the back of a road ambulance and had the same outcome - a fair few of them, if they turned up in A&E out of the back of some neigbours car would ge given a number and sent to the back of the queue in the waiting room.

[Rhodes]

It's called trying to educate and see if the service can be improved Rhodes. You are one of the few that continues to use "CHC" in your threads, CHC don't make policy, Government departments do. As a by the way I have had a look at medevac 112 FB page which is very good. In all the photos showing the 139 landing here and there over the last number of years. There isn't one of those sites an S-92 could not land on or in.

Its bitter axe grinding, enmity of the Air Corps and trying to decry them at every opportunity.
CHC own the aircraft, operate them and their crew are CHC employees.
If a S-92 can land at these sites then why don't CHC S-92's? Why are CHC forcing time critical casualty to be transported by road to pre designated landing sites?

[Helihead]

If a S-92 can land at these sites then why don't CHC S-92's? Why are CHC forcing time critical casualty to be transported by road to pre designated landing sites?

There you go muddying the waters again. They do Rhodes, this isn't sinking in, is it ? Now, I know of an IAC landing site near Cavan that was used by an IRCG S-92 recently. I know because I saw it land there picking up a HEMS patient. I will ask you to give me an example of what you claim in your last piece ?

[Helihead]

Link?

No link Dev, As I understand it, it is not for public viewing.