L'aviateur
2nd May 2012, 22:25
I'm wondering if anyone here would be kind enough to answer a few questions for my blog. With an amateur aviation background (PPL) and having spent the last few years as HLO on various vessels, I've a reasonable level of knowledge on Heliops, but I'd like to take some advice from experts that might help make Medevacs smoother on Merchant Ships.
The information will be posted publically, relating to Medical Evacuations from Merchant Vessels including Passenger Cruise Ships and Cargo Ships. Whilst in the UK Merchant Navy Officers receive theoretical training in hi-line medevacs etc and the deck preparations, unless they go on specific HLO courses there is still quite a knowledge gap on what actually happens during a Medevac and I'd like to post some opinions from the perspective of Coastguard Helicopter Crew that might help educate people.
What country do you fly for?
What type of aircraft are you operating?
What is the aircrafts maximum range to a distress/medevac?
How will you communicate with the ship? (i.e. Channel 16? 121.5mhz is fitted on all passenger ships, would you use that?)
What information do you need from the ship?
What would you like the ship to do for the medevac?
Would you consider landing on the deck or a marked helideck area?
Do you want the casualty in the ships stretcher ready on deck, or will you transfer them to your stretcher?
Does your organisation allow one of the ships medical staff (Registered Nurse or Doctor) to accompany the patient?
How do we know where you are taking the patient and what will happen to them?
What are the biggest problems you face when working with a merchant vessel/crew?
What area of knowledge do you think ships crew lack the most when it comes to Medevacs?
If you'd like to reply anonymously thats fine, otherwise I'd be very happy if you were able to provide a little information about yourself and your experience by PM.
Thanks in advance.
Just as a note, one of the reasons for asking question No. 10 is because I was Navigator on a cruise ship near the coast of Morocco when we had to perform a Medevac for a passenger with internal bleeding. We had no communication with the helicopter at all, and after it had winched the patient away it took us 3 days to find out where he'd been taken, whilst his wife was threatening legal action against us.
The information will be posted publically, relating to Medical Evacuations from Merchant Vessels including Passenger Cruise Ships and Cargo Ships. Whilst in the UK Merchant Navy Officers receive theoretical training in hi-line medevacs etc and the deck preparations, unless they go on specific HLO courses there is still quite a knowledge gap on what actually happens during a Medevac and I'd like to post some opinions from the perspective of Coastguard Helicopter Crew that might help educate people.
What country do you fly for?
What type of aircraft are you operating?
What is the aircrafts maximum range to a distress/medevac?
How will you communicate with the ship? (i.e. Channel 16? 121.5mhz is fitted on all passenger ships, would you use that?)
What information do you need from the ship?
What would you like the ship to do for the medevac?
Would you consider landing on the deck or a marked helideck area?
Do you want the casualty in the ships stretcher ready on deck, or will you transfer them to your stretcher?
Does your organisation allow one of the ships medical staff (Registered Nurse or Doctor) to accompany the patient?
How do we know where you are taking the patient and what will happen to them?
What are the biggest problems you face when working with a merchant vessel/crew?
What area of knowledge do you think ships crew lack the most when it comes to Medevacs?
If you'd like to reply anonymously thats fine, otherwise I'd be very happy if you were able to provide a little information about yourself and your experience by PM.
Thanks in advance.
Just as a note, one of the reasons for asking question No. 10 is because I was Navigator on a cruise ship near the coast of Morocco when we had to perform a Medevac for a passenger with internal bleeding. We had no communication with the helicopter at all, and after it had winched the patient away it took us 3 days to find out where he'd been taken, whilst his wife was threatening legal action against us.