Factors associated with the safety of EMS helicopters

A 6-Year Analysis of German Emergency Medical Services Helicopter Crashes

“…Of these 11 studies only 2 showed significant differences: Rhee et al 22 Compared with other aviation areas, the risk profile for HEMS is clearly increased (e.g., bad weather, unknown landing site, stress). 17,22,36 This explains the higher crash rate found for HEMS compared with commercial or private aviation areas. 22,36 …”

“…This clear trend is not reported for all countries, some observed an increase in the number of HEMS crashes (Table 2). 27,34 Holland et al 14 Low et al 17 report crash rates between 0 (for HEMS programs with capability for flights according to instrument flight rules) and 2.12 (for infrequent and untrained pilots) in a US survey performed in 1991. In this study they showed a strong correlation between the crash rate and the proficiency of the pilots.…”

“…11,14,17,26,27 This resulted in a total flying time of 220,650 hours (mean, 36,775 Ϯ 3,888 hours per year, Table 3). 9,11,12,14,19 -22,27,28 …”

P Ediatric C Ritical C Are T Ransport —T He S Afety of the J Ourney : A F Ive-Year R Eview of v Ehicular C Ollisions I Nvolving P Ediatric and N Eonatal T Ransport T Eams

“…7 In a review of other factors associated with safe EMS helicopter operation, Low et al found that busy teams and those that had Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) capability had fewer collisions. 8 Transport teams that rely upon a free-standing EMS helicopter service to provide aircraft and personnel should, therefore, choose teams that perform more flights and have IFR-capable pilots. An excellent review of air medical crashes is provided by Frazer's 1999 paper.…”

U Tilization of a Ir M Edical T Ransport in a L Arge U Rban E Nvironment : A R Etrospective a Nalysis

“…[7][8][9] Specifically in New York City, helicopters are no longer able to land on rooftops, including hospital facilities. This is as a direct result of air tragedies such as the 1977 helicopter accident of a 30-passenger craft on the rooftop of the then "Pan Am" building and the crash of a corporate BK-117 Eurocopter into the East River.…”