Head injury trial chopper

[medic001]

I'll probably get shot down for this.
I read last week that the Head injury chopper based in Sydney responded to a child hit by a car in Moore Street Liverpool. Moore St is only blocks away from the Liverpool Hospital.
The headlines stated that a Dr was flown into the area, the child stabilised, and transported to The Liverpool Hospital.
Now, does anyone else out there think this is ridiculous?
Aren't Ambo's always taught to pick up and go if you get a "sick" patient.
Why would a road crew sit there with a "time critical" patient waiting for a chopper with a Dr on board when they could be in the Emergency Dept within minutes of the accident? 5 minute to become airborn, 8 minute flight time, stabilise the patient, start up and transport to Liverpool, shut down and load, then down to the emergency dept. The patient would probably be in CT by then if it had gone by road.
More importantly, why would you put yourself and the general public in so much danger attempting to land in a residential area? Are the pilots being pressured due to the nature of the injury or the age of the patients?
This isn't the first time I've read this type of headline. There was another some time ago when it first started out. A person had fallen down a flight of stairs in the city. The chopper got called in and landed I believe on Broadway again putting thousands of lives at risk - for a patient they didn't even transport.
I know of systems where the pilots aren't even told of the injury as it could place significant pressures on them to undertake a tasking that they would normally decline due to weather.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
cheers

[Bumper]

Hi all,
This is my first post, so please be gentle. I've actually flown with the HIRT helicopter and although I don't know the specifics of this case, I can give some general info. The Augusta helicopter was specifically chosen for its fast start time and the crew is regularly airborne in under three minutes of selecting a case (occasionally this is even before a road-based ambulance has been dispatched!). The speed of the Augusta means they can be anywhere in Sydney within minutes. The rationale behind the service is not to delay patients from being transported, but to get a specialist doctor on scene to administer treatment within fifteen minutes. This is time-critical to patient outcomes. While it may seem extravagant to send a chopper to an accident in front of a hospital, the team is just as likely to be there before a ground-based ambulance fighting through peak-hour traffic. In many cases the patient is still transported by road, but with the advantage of having the specialist administering life-saving interventions enroute.
The pilots are definately not pressured as there is always a road-based ambulance responding to the incident. This team is probably the most professional and safe I've ever flown with. In almost every case the landing site is secured by police, so although the headlines sound good, "thousands" of lives are definately not at risk.
I was priviledged to land in the middle of Sydney in the HIRT chopper and saw the outstanding safety commitment of the crew.
I've also seen the results of studies showing just how effective this kind of service is in minimising the potentially life-shattering effects of head injuries. Let's hope they get to continue past the current trial phase.
Regards,
Bumper

[Double Zero]

Bumper,

All you say sounds good sense to me;

as for 'risking thousands of lives', do you normally carry nuclear weapons on these sorties ?!

[john_tullamarine]

I cannot speak with any medical competence but I would offer two thoughts ..

(a) medical need would have dictated the response

(b) as a parent who has had a child whisked away by medevac helo in a different jurisdiction and in a different age .. I suggest that the relevant parents are only too happy to acknowledge that the helo was involved ...

[medic001]

Don't get me wrong - it's important to take intensive care to the patient. I work on a rescue helo and know of the dangers involved.
I just sometimes wonder if it might be a case of overkill for some of the responses. I know how the CAD system works and yes, the helo may get the call at the same time as a road crew. And yes I understand the issue of bed block all too well, but in most cases there would be a resouorce available fairly quickly.
It would be interesting to get the stats to see how often and what time frames the road crews sit on scene waiting for the helo to arrive. I've seen it many times where the patient could have been in hospital half an hour prior to them actually getting there.
Our pilots are obviously informed of pending cases but are rarely told of what they are going to so that they dont feel pressured into going when it's a borderline decision.
For the "risking thousands of lives" issue - I've seen police secure landing zones but when you land in an urban setting like Hyde park you are still going to get the curious onlookers who are not back near far enough.
I fully agree with Bumper - I hope this goes past the trial period and is implemented full time.
Fly safe
Cheers
medic001