I tend to agree with Biff's on the synopsis of UK HEMS, but since we are broadening the discussion to include all HEMS, then it is going to be horses for courses.
in Oz, the majority of HEMS operations have tried to heed the lesson of single pilot HEMS disadvantages but are also restricted by budget. Cancelling night HEMS is not as simple as in the UK where I draw from Biff's discussion that road crews can cover most of the area after traffic peaks. It would seem then that UK HEMS is predicated on the tyranny of traffic whereas in Oz, the system is predicated on the tyranny of distance.
In the UK, the emphasis seems to be on speed of response where night HEMS cannot really beat road EMS responses enough to justify costs. For difficult access issues, such as winch, SAR, water rescue, etc, there is a dedicated outfit with a far greater range. Is that a reasonable impression?
In Oz, the speed and access issues are catered for by the same provider, thus requiring 24 hour ops. Given the significantly smaller populations, and the significantly larger distances requiring bigger machines, it should be obvious why budgeting is so important. Accordingly, the bigger and more progressive Oz HEMS providors have trained up the crewman/winch operator as a front AND back seat crewmember. For example He would be expected to do normal crewman duties such as winch operator, conning, etc, but also flies in the front to run radios, mission co-ord, GPS, nav, all checklists including emergency checklists, and even brief and monitor instrument approaches. They are even taken on overseas simulator training trips to train and expose them to operations as a front seat team member. In that way, the risks apparent for single pilot night and IFR are greatly reduced within a very small budget increase. It is still maturing, but seems to working just fine.
Could this be the compromise between the SP two pilot camps??
As for NVG's, the new stuff can and should be used above built up areas, and mike Atwood's training course in the USA regularly completes NVG landings to conventinoally lit hospital pads. The kiwis are now analysing the newly introduced NVG technology to see if night unaided EMS should be restricted!!
Lets catch up (At least to their rugby).
Last edited by helmet fire; 12th Oct 2005 at 00:12.