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Medical Helicopter Takes Off
allen griggs
Member Posts: 35,619 ✭✭✭✭
At London Airport Kentucky yesterday.
The img link is a 15 second video but I can't make it play. Perhaps some of y'all can get it to play.
Two of these helicopters are stationed at the airport around the clock, along with 2 pilots, and 2 nurses and two paramedics, on standby and ready to fly.
They are spending a fortune on salary for this operation.
Comments
We have the same thing here but with only one each of the crew . They fly for UNC medical of Chapel Hill.
I know ther is at least one from Miami valley hospital or it was . ther may be two operating now not sure how the staff are manned . were just under one of there flight paths and can hear them coming some distance away
from what I was told its not cheap if they use them to haul your butt into the trama center (s) and you do get a bill as all insurance companys ( if you have it ) will not cover the entire cost
but If I was all busted up in a accident the cost of saving my butt would be the last think I would be thinking of 😁
also some years back a local TV news had there own then nothing I think they weighed the cost and profit margin and the helicopter lost not long after they started using drone footage
Utah is down to only one TV station with a copter; all the others have gone to drones. Our major hospitals all have ambulance copters, however. And Utah is the only place that has a non-military rescue helicopter with a winch hoist. It gets used a lot in our mountains where even a helo can't land.
A buddy of mine and his wife are both pilots for Life Flight in Eastern Oregon. He's based in Pendleton, she's in La Grande. Between the two of 'em they make some serious money.
ditch my neighbor was medivaced about 80 miles away do to brain anerism, the bill they got was$53,000 and that was close to 20 years ago!! I got a blackhawk ride from clarksburg wv, to pittsburg but the VA covered it since it was VA to VA center, believe me I ASKED BEFORE I agreed to the helicopter ride, figured if I didn't make it I didn't want to stick the wife with the bill..........
I always buy Life Flight Insurance (about $50 per year with ATV Club membership), 'cause one ride can be expensive ($20K to $60K).
Margaret Thatcher
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
Mark Twain
Life flight Ins here, paid by VFD, active or retired members. 60.00 per year and 5.00 for each family member.
Wife got the ride for life a few several years ago, 20 air mile= 23,000.00
Last year a friend took almost identical trip, 43,000.00.
True story, one of the VFD drove to the hospital where the med flight was stationed.
The FD was doing a training session with the medics and they invited him to fly round trip.
No more than a 15 minute trip or less. When the chopper was almost at the landing zone the pilot stood the chopper on it's nose and asked the fireman if this was the right place. Reply, "don't know, I have never seen it from this view".
When you are near death the ride for life is priceless.
Another neighbor had a heart attack, 15 min air ride, 1 hour driving by car.
Husband drove, his wife had the heart procedure and was in recovery by the time he got there.
I took one of those rides once upon a time. Every time the flight medic said "blood pressure's dropping", the pilot dropped the nose a bit more and kicked whatever throttle was left. By the time we got the landing zone, it felt like the whirly bird was standing on it's nose. Then he yanked the stick back and slammed onto the landing pad like we were on fire.
I was thinking "Darn, I survived getting blown up only to be killed strapped to a litter in a helo crash". The bird skittered a few hops and stopped and we all lived.
when seconds count
I got a ride on a Blackhawk Medivac chopper one time...........but it was only an observation ride offered to hospital personnel at Ft. Irwin back in the day.
It was impressive.
8 days ago, a medi-flight flew my dad from Kansas to Missouri after he ended up with MRsa infection after back surgery. His wife, a nurse for 52 years, said getting him to the right place, with the right medication very well may have saved his life.
Thank you to the people that do this, and this is the 2nd time in my life I have seen someone saved likely exclusively due to quick airlift.
The previous time, the person had gotten shot by a "sound shooter" turkey hunter that shot the land owner with a shotgun. He had 7 pellets in the heart. That chopper came overhead where I was fishing, did a 180 degree snap turn, and went back maybe 1/4 mile over the property line and set down. They were on the ground for probably 3 minutes and they were up and gone just as fast. The way that person handled that chopper, I am convinced they were military trained pilot.
MIL was operated yrs ago in a small town we lived in. Staple gun misfired..so they say and they could not stop the bleeding. Dr comes in to tell the bad news. I looked at him and said..WT Heck is wrong with you. Get the helicopter here from Charleston ... and it was there in no time.. It had a lot of stuff on board and they transferred her.. and she lived.
Combat military chopper pilots make the best med flight pilots.
Nothing like flying while under live fire and worst of conditions.
Never been in a chopper but I know a couple fellows that have been in both professions.