Safety of HEMS

Guthrie One

January 26, 19914 fatalitiesIFR vs. VFR

Of the 55 accidents that occurred between January 2002 and January 2005, thefollowing seven were considered to provide the best examples of the safety issuesinvolved:

• Salt Lake City, Utah (FTW03FA082). On January 10, 2003, an EMS

helicopter crashed into terrain while maneuvering in dense fog on an aborted mission to pick up a patient. The pilot and flight paramedic were killed, and the flight nurse was seriously injured.

Helicopter shopping

VFR into IMCOf the seven best examples all involved VFR

into IMC

1972- 2008264 accidentsTotal occupants 797Fatal accident 98Total fatalities 264

Weather was a significant factor in 19% of all HEMS accidents.

Of all crashes in which weather was a factor, 56% were fatal to one or more occupants.

In comparison, 34% of all crashes in which weather was NOT a factor were fatal to one or more occupants.

NTSB risk assessment• The occupational risk to HEMS

crewmembers of being killed in a crash was 164 per 100,000 in 2008.

This risk is higher than traditional high-risk occupations such as commercial fishing (112 per 100,000) or logging (86 per 100,000).

In comparison, the risk to patients of dying in HEMS accidents was 0.76 per 100,000 patients.

Reasons for riskHelicopter shoppingRevenue generating methods

Gov. fundedHospital fundedPrivately funded

Cost of IFR programs

Maryland

Solution Ntsb recommendations not thoroughly

implementedCongress started new regulations More is needed