Originally Posted by
outofoffice
Latest information indicates that the air ambulance service has six channels for radio communication and one mobile phone onboard. Police have also stated that they tried to warn the incoming helicopter about the wires, but no response was given from the helicopter.
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Some problems exist in the UK with on-scene comms. A/C would normally be expected to talk to each other on 123.1 but air-ground comms are a bit of a mess. Our emergency services are heavily "infected" with Airwave which is the equivalent of Nodnett. At rural locations where a major incident occurs, trunked systems have been known to overload and fail. Additionally, mountainous terrain seriously affects coverage. Police, road ambulance and volunteer agencies are never likely to get 123.1 and only SAR a/c use Land SAR frequencies. Even if you have experienced heli-ops personnel on the ground at the scene, waving our arms can be the best comms available.
Huge respect for these guys. En trist dag.
Has the injured paramedic been named?