chopper lands at Stansted

[cooperplace]

nothing unusual except that it landed in the coach park!

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/stansted-airport-emergency-ambulance-helicopter-15276234

[Radgirl]

Paramedics, firefighters, closed roads, MD explorer for one collapsed patient????????? There is a perfctly good hospital a few minutes up the road by ground ambulance. Glad I am not a UK taxpayer. Ohhh, just remembered..... wonder how many passengers missed flights, meetings etc. On the face of it, disgraceful. But who believes anything the public are told nowadays.....

[Pofman]

Radgirl, I don't know where you are from but the nearest trauma units are Harlow, 20 mins minimum, or Cambridge, much the same. If we can't show a bit of compassion for those in distress what sort of people are we?

[206 jock]

Oooh, you're a proper charmer Radgirl. I'm sure the trained dispatcher made the decision to send in the air ambulance for good reason. Still, I suppose it is possible that they don't know as much as someone with an internet connection half a world away.

[GrayHorizonsHeli]

A collapsed patient could literally be anything.
but lets assume the worst and its a heart attack.
the resources to deal with that seem appropriate in that case.
had my day been affected, i wouldn't be a ****, as someone else's day is going far worse.
My life continues...perhaps theres will not.

[Radgirl]

I have to smile gentlemen

This was a collapse not trauma. Dispatching an ambulance and a rapid response vehicle is the norm. What does a firefighter do when it is one patient who has collapsed? Why close roads / why send an aircraft? How does it improve outcome or compassion? If this is the response to every collapse, even if a bystander has the knowledge to diagnose a cardiac arrest, no wonder the NHS is in trouble. It has no benefit

However, if you read my post you will see that I was implying the journalism was OTT or the police were treating the public as rather gullible.

And my internet connection is from just up the road where I work with ambulance services......

[GrayHorizonsHeli]

I'm not sure what firefighters do there during an appropriate response, but where I am from they assist paramedics. This can be performing CPR, monitoring and assessing the patient. Packaging and moving the patient. Securing the immediate scene. Dealing with the family present. Gathering vital medical history. Helping paramedics clear the scene.setting up the LZ for a medevac and maintaining the security of that zone... and the list can go on. They generally have plenty to do. If they arent required. They clear the scene fairly quickly.

[VeeAny]

Perhaps the statement in the article clears up how many meetings where missed.

There was no disruption to flights and the bus and coach operation was managed with no issues, reported Stansted Airport.

[Bull at a Gate]

There is always someone who wants to complain.

[helonorth]

Paramedics, firefighters, closed roads, MD explorer for one collapsed patient?????????

We usually only get dispatched for one patient. Then again, like most air ambulances, we can only carry one. Most flights are not traumas, either. I'm sure if it was you having an MI or stroking out, your first thought would be for all those poor people missing important meetings. Damn, girl...

[arica]

25 years ago some guys also complained in my home country Austria, if it´s necessary to.......

[Radgirl]

OK gentlemen, my final post on this.....

In the UK, as opposed to your various countries, we do not close roads, launch helicopters or mobilise fire trucks for one collapsed individual where there is a comprehensive hospital under 7 minutes away along a freeway that was running clear. Flying time from the Royal London to Stanstead is more than 7 minutes....

My posts are about fake news, not about macho men in uniforms. VeeNay's quote sums it up - NO disruption to bus and coach operations even though the roads were closed.

Tootle Pip

[helonorth]

OK gentlemen, my final post on this.....


Thank you!

[STN406]

I have to smile gentlemen

This was a collapse not trauma. Dispatching an ambulance and a rapid response vehicle is the norm. What does a firefighter do when it is one patient who has collapsed? Why close roads / why send an aircraft? How does it improve outcome or compassion? If this is the response to every collapse, even if a bystander has the knowledge to diagnose a cardiac arrest, no wonder the NHS is in trouble. It has no benefit

However, if you read my post you will see that I was implying the journalism was OTT or the police were treating the public as rather gullible.

And my internet connection is from just up the road where I work with ambulance services......

So you was at the coach station and saw the incident and you are a qualified first aider to be able to tell the difference between someone who has collapsed and that of a person in cardiac arrest????

The based Airport Fire Service ‘AFS’ are infact all first aid trained. Same as all fire fighters across the country. They are always deployed along the based ambulance in all life threatening incidents. They offer the extra man power that is always needed in these types of incidents.

Roads where closed by the police and the airports operations team, whilst the Air Ambulance landed and took off from the scene. This is the norm at most times an Air Ambulance lands or takes off.
The flight operations would have only been affected slightly as the aircraft left the scene as it crossed the runway.

Too add aswell myself and my team who work for MAG in an operational role also rushed to the scene to support the paramedics and offer assistance as we are like the AFS first aid trained.

I dont care if your post was made to rant, or what but, if I was in serious medical incident I would hope I got the same response that was seen yesterday at Stansted.

[SASless]

What is the UK accepted definition of a "collapsed" individual....as compared to a genuine life threatening medical emergency?

Any Medically qualified person (I am not sure RadGirl fits that description) care to enlighten those of us from "other countries"?

[STN406]

Collapsed: Is a sudden and often unannounced loss of postural tone (going weak), often but not necessarily accompanied by loss of consciousness. If the episode is accompanied by a loss of consciousness, the term syncope is used.

[Torquetalk]

Dear Ratgirl,

if you are going to troll and pretend to be based in the UK you need to research your subjects a little:

Anyone living and working in the UK would know that the fast roads are not called freeways. They would also know that they are often not very fast.

Scurry along now.

[Sir Niall Dementia]

Poor sod had probably just got off a RyanAir flight, I've often felt the need for intensive care after being on one of their flights:E

And as anyone who knows Stansted will tell you, from the terminal to the M11 is 5 minutes with lights and sirens, the roads to both Harlow and Chelmsford are poor in comparison to some "freeways" in other countries and an air ambulance will also get you to the treatment centre you really need very quickly.

Stansted ATC are very good with all emergency service helicopters (and very clear and helpful with VIP too) a landing in the coach park is clear of the approaches taxi-ways etc so no need for any flight to be inconvenienced.

SND

[ShyTorque]

It might have been an over-reaction in some ways (not the landing itself, but all the "hoo ha" that went with it) but after almost forty years in the industry it doesn't surprise me. Helicopters are still seen by some in the same light that required a man with a red flag to precede a motor vehicle.

Over the years I've landed in all sorts of places. Some hotels with a helipad require with various paperwork well in advance, indemnity forms, proof of insurance (the latter signed by the pilot, the operator and in the worse cases, by the insurance company itself for every landing, even if you are a "regular") so there's no chance of an unscheduled landing. One hotel refused me a landing because they were adamant "I needed written police permission for something like that".

Others just say "Drop in, anytime - just don't block the "H" in case another one comes in".

As far as airfields go, from the way helicopters are dealt with at some of them you would think we're landing a space shuttle! :rolleyes:

[helonorth]

In EMS in the US, we can land just about anywhere we want. Not an exaggeration. If you don't like the LZ and see a better one, you can land there, no questions asked. We are talking about EMS, not picking up or dropping off some VIP at a hotel.

[206 jock]

In EMS in the US, we can land just about anywhere we want. Not an exaggeration. If you don't like the LZ and see a better one, you can land there, no questions asked. We are talking about EMS, not picking up or dropping off some VIP at a hotel.
It is much the same in the UK. Once the callsign is changed to Alpha, the controllers know it is an emergency and the pilot has ultimate choose of landing site. In this case, the patient - according to one of the reports at least - collapsed in the coach station itself.

[helonorth]

Yes, you land as close to the patient as safely possible. Time is, after all, the name of the game. I can't see how this could possibly be a disruption to the regular air traffic to any mentionable degree. And if some people on the ground were late for some important meetings, it happens.

[ShyTorque]

In EMS in the US, we can land just about anywhere we want. Not an exaggeration. If you don't like the LZ and see a better one, you can land there, no questions asked. We are talking about EMS, not picking up or dropping off some VIP at a hotel.

Exactly. It should be no big deal to land a helicopter and the point I was making is that the whole thing (in UK, which is where we're talking about) it often tends to get blown out of all proportion by those that don't really understand what they are dealing with.