Originally Posted by
gulliBell
Not coming from a SAR background, and for the enlightenment of others here like me, I'm curious to what extent the helicopter crew are involved in the initial decision making process to launch on a mission. Or are they told to go, and they just go? Presumably they are told of the nature of the injury of the patient. If they are told "not life threatening" is it open to the SAR crew to suggest, for example, as the safest option in the circumstances, for the Captain of the vessel to sail towards port and the helicopter will rendezvous with them at first light?
Not sure how it works in SAR but when I worked for an Air Ambulance we were not told the patient status but simply asked "Can you respond to a call to XXXX?" We made our go/no go decision based upon operational factors such as Aircraft / crew status and weather.
This was because we did want to put undo pressure on the crew. After we accepted the flight the paramedics would get the patient status. We did not want something like "The patient is a cute 5 year old with serious injuries" to affect the decision to launch or not.
I am sure someone with actual knowledge as to SAR procedures will be able to better respond to your question.