Very very sad. Condolences to families and friends.
The following is said without *any* intention of disrespect to the dedicated crew who have lost their lives in this tragic accident and is in memory of colleagues that I have lost in the past.
I have been involved in a past life with many medevacs over many years, in acft varying from single heli to jet. One thing that has struck me is that there has been this enthusiasm from medical and lay sources for aerial transport, especially at night, for many injuries/illnesses that could in fact have waited either for daylight, or could have been completed by surface (boat/road/hovercraft...).
I am not for one instant making a judgment on the decision to dispatch in this case, but I have seen cases in the past where there has been a fracture (or two) where the patient has been splinted, is comfortable, has no compromise to circulation/sensation or other risk to the limb, but has been transported by air at great cost, and some increased risk by air, and especially at night in non-IFR acft. The same could be said for many non-trauma cases, as well. It is very dark at night over water and you really are on instruments - even on moonlit nights an orientable horizon can be difficult to discern.
Aeromedical transport can be fast and life-saving (seen that more frequently than the above, I'll admit ), but the risk and cost must be balanced against the benefits, as for any life activity. Even for the unstable patient, not moving, or moving by road/sea can offer benefits if there is no ICU level team trained in aeromedical transfer/retrieval as there is little chance of doing much active medical treatment in flight due to noise/vibration, etc., all of which can make some medical conditions worse. And, yes, many lives have been saved by night VFR flights, that would otherwise have been lost, but the risks and benefits must be clearly balanced.....
Again, condolences for loss of these three fine folk, who were trying to help to the best of their ability.
NOtimTAMs
