Whats the main killer of EMS crews? Crashes at Night.
Why? CFIT, Loss of awareness, Inadvertent IMC, Couldnt see the wires, the list goes on...
NVGs WILL make a huge difference to flight safety at night. Twin engines will not stop you hitting the side of a hill.
NVGs will not let you contiue on when the conditions are crap, what they will do is stop you ending up in the crap in the first place.
I will give you a Czech prospective. We fly NVFR only. That is only on Secondary missions, hospital transfers, and company NVFR rules are extremely strict. Before each flight the conditions are carefully asessed and a go or no-go decision is made. Any conditions that change during the flight to below company minimums, will lead to the flight being terminated via turning back or landing at alternates. Is this fool proof, no but so far the EMS industry here has had a good safety record. BTW we always use 2 pilots at night.
NVGs are the future. What will bring this about is not you, me, or your operation, but the Insurance companies and or the clients you contract to.
BM