Does that mean the back-seaters have to climb into the cockpit of a Sea King and pull the curtain across?

Just open the cockpit windows, crack the back door and you have a forced air system to keep the nasty germs away from the pilots;)

Well it works when someone in the cockpit farts;)

Can't quite believe such a pathetic excuse for not using the 139 - I'm sure the crews are rather embarrassed.

"""""Just open the cockpit windows, crack the back door and you have a forced air system to keep the nasty germs away from the pilots

Well it works when someone in the cockpit farts

Can't quite believe such a pathetic excuse for not using the 139 - I'm sure the crews are rather embarrassed.""""
[email protected]



Opening the windows and doors and blowing the bacteria all round the aircraft is probably the stupidest thing you could do.

The piece below and the link about a young man from our area who contracted the disease when under a year old say it all. The effect of a crew member or a member of the maintenance team taking this back to their own family does not bare thinking about.
Maybe somebody did a risk assessment and got it right.
I doubt the crews have anything to be embarrassed about.

The Responder’s Guide to Meningitis
BY KEVIN T. COLLOPY, BA, FP-C, CCEMT-P, NREMT-P, WEMT, SCOTT R. SNYDER, BS, NREMT-P, SEAN M. KIVLEHAN, MD, MPH, NREMT-P ON DEC 1, 2012

"Following the transport of any suspected meningitis patient, regardless of etiology, or the interfacility transport of a confirmed bacterial meningitis case, thorough decontamination of the ambulance and transport stretcher is essential. There are many commercial chemical cleaning solutions; however, a 1-to-100 bleach-to-water solution is effective as well. If you use a commercial solution, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s cleaning recommendations.

Inside the ambulance, every horizontal and vertical surface needs proper cleaning. The need for this was highlighted in a 2008 study that tested for the presence of bacteria on the surfaces of ambulance patient compartments and found that all surfaces tested positive not only for bacterial growth, but for four identified bacteria prone to antibiotic resistance.8 Then in 2009, 1 of 3 EMS provider stethoscopes tested positive for MRSA-resistant bacteria.9 The message: Don’t forget to clean your stethoscope as well. Failure to properly decontaminate surfaces a patient touches risks infecting other patients."


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...es-ballet.html

MENINGITIS survivor Harvey Phillips is getting a big kick from being in his football squad.

The battling football fan is a member of Louth Old Boys under-8s team – seven years after courageously surviving the meningococcal strain of the disease.

Despite having his lower limbs and part of his arms amputated by surgeons, Harvey has enjoyed being a team member and has completed his first season with the Old Boys.

He took part in a football tournament organised by the club which attracted 1,200 people to Louth's London Road Pavilion.

On the first day of the two-day event, 75 teams took part, including Harvey's squad.

His dad Darren said: "They have had a great season and Harvey has loved being able to play football with his friends."

no,,,really??? The;)is supposed to indicate a joke:ugh:

Suggest you read the Daily Mail link and then tell me how f*cki*g funny it is.
So the bit about the crews being embarrassed and this being a apathetic excuse is funny as well.

There is only one thing pathetic and embarrassing about this situation try looking in the mirror.

Ah, a Daily Mail reader - that explains the lack of sense of humour and the need to take offence by proxy for events you had nothing to do with.

No one said meningitis was funny - it's a horrible disease especially for children - how would you feel if your child was sick and an ambulance (or in this case a helicopter) crew refused to transport them to hospital?

Disinfecting a SAR aircraft is a normal procedure since all sorts of bodily fluids end up in the back as well as on the crew.

What is pathetic is that the reason for not taking the child was the lack of a separate cockpit, something I don't think any SAR or Air Ambulance helicopter has.

Agusta Westland AW189

That'll boost the CRM no end:ugh:

Well it can't get any worse than the seaking! ;)

At least on the Sea King the rear crew can come up and punch the pilots if they do anything stupid:ok:

Care to elaborate on or substantiate that statement Shetlander? :=

Perhaps Shetlander only has experience of RN Sea Kings;)

Oh here we go, they've started again. :ugh:

Quick, change the subject!



Morayshire care home visit Bristow Inverness. :ok: :E

I think it's a valid question Jim. Do you disagree?

Shetlander
Your inexperience shines through with virtually every post you make. I very much doubt you have any hours flying the Sea King yet you feel qualified to make such ridiculous statements. Just stop it.

Dangle the bait and someone always bites.

You are all right. No hours on an ageing seaking, however it doesn't stop me casting my opinion. If it's not a shared opinion then that's not my problem.

If I quote Crab...

Will await the backlash from those who think they are high and mighty....:E

No hours on Sea Kings yet you regularly feel happy to impugn those who have contributed to the aircraft’s success over many decades.
As life goes on young man you may learn to build some subtlety into your supposed fishing trips. Grow up.

Getting back to the debate a wee while back; the 'open cockpit' description comes from the CAA (I believe) and prohibits the crews carrying certain medical cases. I may be incorrect in this assumption though. There is a distinct difference from contamination with bodily fluids, a common problem for all SAR aircraft, and contamination with an airborne virus/bacteria. Transfer from the IoW by air is 5 mins, but on a ferry it's less than 30 mins. I could understand the necessity to go by air if it was from Barra, or a rig or the Isles of Scilly, but an ambulance on a ferry across the Solent ain't that bad.
The AW189 has a partition from the cabin (similar to that found on a London Black cab- the jokes have already started ".....you never guess who I had onboard last night, guv'nor), due to a CAA requirement in order to use NVG in the cockpit. or so i believe

Shetlander - you admit to having zero hours on the Sea King yet feel qualified to opine about the quality of CRM on that platform. Priceless. :D

Crab to get back to airflow in the Seaking. Funny on the S61n the airflow was from the cabin to cockpit, not at all good if there are bugs floating around. Not good on rig runs with 19 or so curries fermenting in the back, one of the better reasons for suiting the pax.;)

It may be Priceless but it is no different to those casting their opinions of Civy SAR having never worked on an aircraft type or even for those companies in question.

Two wrongs don't make a right.

On a brighter (hopefully) note...

Anyone know any details on the All White AW189 that flew into Norwich last night from Dyce? Reg: I-LCIB, is it another SAR cab prior to a visit to the paint shop.

Norfolk - it would be interesting to know if it is a CAA thing or a company policy - either way it hasn't been thought out - it might protect the pilots but what about the rear crew? Unless everyone in contact with the casualty is in the 'ebola-style' sealed suits there will always be a risk and that kit is not standard on a SAR cab.

The problem with meningitis is that often the diagnosis is made late and in a child that can mean that every minute between diagnosis and correct treatment is vital - it tends to cause infection in the limbs first if I remember correctly.

Are we about to go down a path where the crew are not allowed to be put at any risk when performing their duties? It certainly doesn't sound like SAR as I know it.

Only one SAR cab was due to be made in Italy and therefore carry an Italian delivery registration. That one was G-MCGM (formerly I-EASN). The next one was G-MCGN made at Yeovil. G-MCGO to G-MCGT are already on the register with Yeovil serial numbers.

There is an AW Demo aircraft I-LCIH that had been flying around North Sea oil & gas customers months ago. Could it have been that one?

According to Norwich movements;

Display Movements

21:37 I-LCIB Agusta AW189 ARR White overall with AW titles and red regn

So you may be right as it seems to be White with AW Tiles.

They will be different sizes than the ones made in Italy

Is that like the garage doors they used to make - same jigs but different fits?;)

We had to ground all our Pumas in about 1973 so that all the doors, doghouses, etc, etc could be refitted back to their original airframes because none of them fitted other aircraft.

When they were building the Nimrods the Comet fuselages being delivered varied in length by up to two feet. That made it quite difficult to strap the MRA bit on underneath.

What's this I hear about Bristow turning down night jobs due to lack of NVG inland?:{

Oh TC....you'll go to hell for that one..:mad::suspect:

Not sure why MR are beating their gums over this. Dry your eyes Princess... Any Team Leader worth their salt will understand that SAFETY will always take precedence - especially in TRAINING scenarios :ugh:

Search helicopter operator slammed by rescue leader over training
Helicopter operator Bristow slammed by Cairngorm Mountain Rescue leader | Aberdeen & North | News

So Bristows are using the "triggered lightning" excuse in the SAR world now are they ?? .. I laughed my ass off when I saw that on the News. Bristows playing the safety card ?? .. They have played that a few times offshore and it always seems to be when our flight is already very delayed. or they wont fly to a rig that another operator will. Spent my last three years in the RAF in the ARCC and the years since offshore dealing with them a lot.

I am just happy a lot of the crews are ex military. Thats the only thing that gives me a warm fuzzy feeling about them having the SAR contract.

Although it seems from both the caa and met office websites and studies, that triggered lightning is almost exclusively a North Sea, over-water phenomenon with no recorded events in the mountainous areas.

Perhaps someone being a little over-cautious and never heard the adage - 'if it ain't raining, it ain't training';)

Crab, don't be a prat all your life. Perhaps you should give Bond Helicopters in Aberdeen a call and see how they are getting on with their insurance claim for an S92 that was written off just before Christmas due to triggered lightning.

It is not an over water phenomenon. There have been the most strikes of triggered lightning over the North Sea because that is where most of the helicopters fly but it is by no means an over water issue. Why do I think you knew that anyway.......

Is it really worth the risk of writing off a multi million pound helicopter just so an MR exercise can take place. No. But they will take the risk for an operational flight and that is as it should be.

P3

There should be no surprise whatsoever that the appetite for risk and the manner in which risk is managed has shifted as a result of changing from a military to a commercial SAR provider. Sometimes this will be a good thing, sometimes it won't. It all depends on your perspective (casualty on the hill v aircraft insurer, for example). Whereas lines have often been blurred in the past you can bet your bottom dollar there will no longer be any ambiguity.

Unfortunately none of this is quantifiable so political statements that herald the new service as a 'better' service are impossible to disprove. Likewise, certain parties may argue that some military SAR missions in the past flirted with unnecessary levels of risk. Again, impossible to prove. The debate will continue ad infinitum.

Really?
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/2561/20130...esentation.pdf
Investigating and predicting helicopter-triggered lightning strikes - Met Office

And in the busy North Sea, there are only 1 -3 reports of triggered lightning each year! You've more chance of winning the lottery!

And just how long has Aberdeen been in the mountains?

Perhaps you could do some research before you start name-calling - again!

Crab, 1 question then...... Why do the Met Office produce a triggered lightning forecast that covers the overland area and not stop forecasting at the coast?

Answer that if you can

PS perhaps I should have said "it's not JUST and over water phenomena"

I think most of us knew that's what you meant. It's pretty obvious! :rolleyes:

Perhaps because it is feasible, unlikely but feasible, that the conditions that will give the remote possibility of triggered lightning over the North Sea might, at a stretch drift inland.

Not ones to be caught out (after the promised barbeque summer and the 80's hurricane) they would rather forecast a possibility (no matter how remote) that triggered lightning may be encountered (despite the lack of reports or other evidence), the Met Office are just covering their a*ses so no-one can blame them if it does happen.

A bit like Prob 30 of TS which means prob 70 of no TS.

If Bristow had just said the weather was unsuitable for MR training it would have been much simpler.