Med-Evac Landing Pad at Firehouse

[mcaldwell]

Originally posted by nmfire


Uh oh. Que the "personal vehicles responding to the scene of a call" argument!!! Does the personal pilot have blue lights on the dash of his helicopter?

No, but one pilot's got a red & white A-star with the standard red and white blinkies on the fuselage. In the world of private helo's, it definitely looks whackeriffic. Maybe we could loan him the siren off the old bush engine.

[bvfdfirefighter]

I am dispather for one of the largest medical helicopter services in the US. we dispatch for most of the east coast midwest Cali, AZ. I personally think LZ s at fire stations is a great idea not only does it free up equipment it provides a safe place for the copter to land. Most scenes are hectic alot of emergancy equipment alot of lights,wires, traffic, gawkers ect you get my point i dispatch for Az one of our helicopters is based at a fire station. Alot of times the squad just trx the pt to the station they can load and go. Its not always an option but should be thought about in the planning in most big cities imagine trying to land in an intersection or the front of a house. Next when calling for a helicopter next to the green house or but the red truck under the oak tree are not very helpful.i live in Omaha Neb have probably never been to your town try to give a major intersection big open lot express to 911 dispatch to try to be accurate in locations any 180 x 180 ft open space no wires its generally acceptable look around can you trx to a parking lot or open field.Next dont shine the spot light at the pilot he will not be very impressed with you 1800 candle watt spot light you just blinded him he is flying in pitch black then you light him up can you hit the toilet when you walk into bathroom from pitch black and flick on light .Next only if absolutily have to send more than 2 people to help move pt towards A/C pilot is watching to make sure no one walks into tail rotor and its like watching a group of sixth graders at a canteen. If you want to see the copter call set up a pr and take a look there not on a scene Iam sure most of this is known and sounds simple but we hear alot of stories of what happens on scene and we just sit in amazment Be safe hold onto your lids keep low and for gods sakes be careful out there ps our brothers from Philly may god be with you and god bless your families we shall never forget

[HeavyRescueTech]

Originally posted by bvfdfirefighter
Next when calling for a helicopter next to the green house or but the red truck under the oak tree are not very helpful.i live in Omaha Neb have probably never been to your town try to give a major intersection big open lot express to 911 dispatch to try to be accurate in locations any 180 x 180 ft open space no wires its generally acceptable look around can you trx to a parking lot or open field.Next dont shine the spot light at the pilot he will not be very impressed with you 1800 candle watt spot light you just blinded him he is flying in pitch black then you light him up can you hit the toilet when you walk into bathroom from pitch black and flick on light .Next only if absolutily have to send more than 2 people to help move pt towards A/C pilot is watching to make sure no one walks into tail rotor and its like watching a group of sixth graders at a canteen. If you want to see the copter call set up a pr and take a look there not on a scene Iam sure most of this is known and sounds simple but we hear alot of stories of what happens on scene and we just sit in amazment Be safe hold onto your lids keep low and for gods sakes be careful out there ps our brothers from Philly may god be with you and god bless your families we shall never forget

bvfdfirefighter, I know it's 4am, but please, punctuation makes your posts much more readable. those little periods and commas make it so much clearer, and also add to your credibility as a professional.
the above quote only has 3 periods!!!

that being said, landing zones are firehouses are an interesting idea. personally, I think people need to preplan your entire coverage area with as many potential zones as you can find. if your firehouse is one of them, so be it. but if you can get a closer one, all the better.

[Bones42]

in most big cities imagine trying to land in an intersection or the front of a house

I would bet, most big cities have a trauma center nearby and don't need a helicopter.

[firenresq77]

Originally posted by Bones42
I would bet, most big cities have a trauma center nearby and don't need a helicopter.

Toledo isn't a "big, big" city, but we have 3 Trauma Hospitals and 2 Pediatric Hospitals, all within about 5 miles of each other....... Yoou wanna talk about duplication of services.......

Oh yeah, we also have 2 Air bulance Services, with a total of 7 helicopters spaced throughout NW Ohio......

Both services are ran by hospitals, which are competitors....... Promedica Health Systems and Mercy Health Partners.......

[Bones42]

Guess I should have said it a little better...by not needing helicopters I meant not needing them to come to a scene to fly patients to the hospitals. I can understand their use outside the city, but have a hard time thinking they are landing helicopters in the center of the city for trauma scenes.

[EastKyFF]

I'm seeing a lot of similar arrangements to ours described here. Countywide, we have ten predesignated LZ's w/coordinates all ready to go at 911. This includes four school sports fields, several farm fields, etc.

Here's HealthNet III out of Cabell-Huntington (WV) Hospital, parking at Highland Elementary for a patient out of a rollover MVC.

[emsbrando]

We have a couple of stations here in East Texas that have enough room for a helipad to where a copter can approach and leave safely. They went the whole nine yards with a slab, lights, red cross in the middle with the white H in it, and even had the FAA come by and look for their approval.

Ed

[firenresq77]

Originally posted by Bones42
Guess I should have said it a little better...by not needing helicopters I meant not needing them to come to a scene to fly patients to the hospitals. I can understand their use outside the city, but have a hard time thinking they are landing helicopters in the center of the city for trauma scenes.

Sorry, Bones. I knew what you meant. I was just expanding on our large duplication of services in this area......... It's all about the money when it comes to hospitals.......

Every once in awhile we may get a helicopter dispatched into Toledo, but it's usually on extended extrications on "the outskirts"........ Most of the stuff is taken in by the Lifesquads to the closest Trauma Center........