Heliport
22nd Jan 2005, 20:15
From WBAY News report
Helicopter Crew Honored a Year After Rescue
Bay of Green Bay, Wisconsin -
Pilot George Miller, Lieutenant Shaun Stamnes, and Mike Orlando, the crew of Brown County rescue helicopter will receive the National American Eurocopters Golden Hour Award next month. The award honors helicopter crews who advance the use of helicopters in rescue missions.
This time last year, the crew made a daring attempt to save an Illinois couple who fell into open water on the bay of Green Bay. The couple got lost in blizzard-like conditions on the bay and drove their snowmobiles into unfamiliar territory and into the water.
When one fell into the water, the other went for help and went into open water, too, so they were both lost in separate locations. One was able to call 911 on his cellphone, helping dispatchers narrow their location before losing contact.
After minutes of searching in the whiteout conditions, and unable to set down on the weak ice, the crew of the Eagle III helicopter managed to pull both people from the water and both survived.
One of the survivors, Richard Olszewski, knows he almost died in those conditions but he doesn't recall how. "I don't really remember too much at all."
And yet he can't stop thinking about it. "There is no explanation for why I'm still standing here talking to you, to be honest with you. Nobody really knows, so I definitely got a second chance at life."
That's thanks in part to paramedics Stamnes and Orlando, who had just settled in for a quiet night at County Rescue when Olszewski's 911 call came in: "My snowmobile went under the water. My girlfriend's on ice. Can you hear me?"
Orlando recalled, "That was my first helicopter rescue.
It's probably one of those once-in-a-career calls that you go on," Stamnes, the Eagle III crew chief, said.
Dispatchers listened intently to the rescue operation and were relieved when they heard: "Brown County, the party is on board and we're heading back to Green Bay."
Completing this rescue made them realize it could happen all over again.
"It has given a little more meaning to the training we do. People look back at that one instance and say 'Tonight, I could be doing that,'" Stamnes said. "Just snowmobiles in general, it's in your mind, something that stays with you for the rest of your life," Orlando said.
Olszewski says he gets colder faster and has two badly frostbitten fingers, but he still snowmobiles even on the bay.
The two went into the water about one-and-a-half miles from shore. Olszewski said he still comes out there -- in the daylight -- to see where he was rescued.
"Makes you think a little bit," he said. "If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be standing here right now."
http://www.eagle3.org/images/p-gurney.jpg
The EC135 Eagle III is allowed to fly over water up to 50 miles away from land, greatly reducing times to communities located on the bay of Green Bay.
http://www.eagle3.org/images/10.jpg
Eagle III over the Fox River in Green Bay
Helicopter Crew Honored a Year After Rescue
Bay of Green Bay, Wisconsin -
Pilot George Miller, Lieutenant Shaun Stamnes, and Mike Orlando, the crew of Brown County rescue helicopter will receive the National American Eurocopters Golden Hour Award next month. The award honors helicopter crews who advance the use of helicopters in rescue missions.
This time last year, the crew made a daring attempt to save an Illinois couple who fell into open water on the bay of Green Bay. The couple got lost in blizzard-like conditions on the bay and drove their snowmobiles into unfamiliar territory and into the water.
When one fell into the water, the other went for help and went into open water, too, so they were both lost in separate locations. One was able to call 911 on his cellphone, helping dispatchers narrow their location before losing contact.
After minutes of searching in the whiteout conditions, and unable to set down on the weak ice, the crew of the Eagle III helicopter managed to pull both people from the water and both survived.
One of the survivors, Richard Olszewski, knows he almost died in those conditions but he doesn't recall how. "I don't really remember too much at all."
And yet he can't stop thinking about it. "There is no explanation for why I'm still standing here talking to you, to be honest with you. Nobody really knows, so I definitely got a second chance at life."
That's thanks in part to paramedics Stamnes and Orlando, who had just settled in for a quiet night at County Rescue when Olszewski's 911 call came in: "My snowmobile went under the water. My girlfriend's on ice. Can you hear me?"
Orlando recalled, "That was my first helicopter rescue.
It's probably one of those once-in-a-career calls that you go on," Stamnes, the Eagle III crew chief, said.
Dispatchers listened intently to the rescue operation and were relieved when they heard: "Brown County, the party is on board and we're heading back to Green Bay."
Completing this rescue made them realize it could happen all over again.
"It has given a little more meaning to the training we do. People look back at that one instance and say 'Tonight, I could be doing that,'" Stamnes said. "Just snowmobiles in general, it's in your mind, something that stays with you for the rest of your life," Orlando said.
Olszewski says he gets colder faster and has two badly frostbitten fingers, but he still snowmobiles even on the bay.
The two went into the water about one-and-a-half miles from shore. Olszewski said he still comes out there -- in the daylight -- to see where he was rescued.
"Makes you think a little bit," he said. "If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be standing here right now."
http://www.eagle3.org/images/p-gurney.jpg
The EC135 Eagle III is allowed to fly over water up to 50 miles away from land, greatly reducing times to communities located on the bay of Green Bay.
http://www.eagle3.org/images/10.jpg
Eagle III over the Fox River in Green Bay