My First Patient Flight

[Cruzin Chris]

I got my first scene flight last week and transported a patient to a rooftop helipad. Here are some pics....

 

 

Take-off area looks good and into the wind....

 

 

If that sight doesn't do anything for you, you are on the wrong board!

 

Edited May 23, 2008 by Cruzin Chris

[Autorotator]

Congrats. Good for you. Cool pix!

[Guest rotorflyr84]

Awesome! Enjoyed the pics and congrats on the flight. I know that in EMS they don't want you to incorporate the "I'm a hero and going to save lives mentality", but it has to make you feel good to have possibly made a difference in someones life when reaching the hospital pad. Again, awesome and thanks for sharing.

[Wally]

Congratulations. Did it go as you expected?

Wally

Emory 2

[Jacknife]

Gratz, nice pics! Something to look forward to.

 

JK

[FredR]

I'm new to the EMS world as well. It always feels good when the flight goes as planned. Congrats.

[Cruzin Chris]

Congratulations. Did it go as you expected?

Wally

Emory 2

 

 

Honestly, it was like what I trained for. Since that flight I've had some tough ones. Landing is easy... taking off is a bitch!! Don't let the ground folks sucker you into a hole you can't get out of!!

[FredR]

Cruzin Chris,

I hear what you are saying about taking off. Our base is at 5000' and we are currently working with a Koala so no issues with that aircraft...however, we had the 206 up here for a couple of weeks and with a big med crew I was turning down flights because we would exceed max gross weight with the patient all the time. Couldn't download fuel as we were already at the comfortable minimum. Thank God for the fixed wing.

Fred

[Parafiddle]

Congratulations, Chris! Just curious - since it sounds like you are fairly new to the EMS world, I was curious about your career path to get to this point (how did you build hours, were you a military pilot, etc.)? I know there are a lot of low-time helo pilots or helo pilot wanna-be's (like myself) that like to hear how people manage to get to their goals (EMS pilot in this case) as a both a frame of reference and a reality check on what will be required as well as a possible road map to achieve their goals. Thanks!

[Gomer Pylot]

IMO the main thing you have to remember for those takeoffs is to never, ever accept any yaw. Pick a direction and hold it, and even 10 degrees is too much. Once that yaw starts in a 206, it's difficult, and sometimes impossible, to stop it. The 206 tail rotor is grossly underdesigned, and you can find yourself spinning uncontrollably before you can blink. As long as you know it, and keep it straight, it's all good. Just don't even consider taking off with a quartering tailwind. The thing weathervanes so much that if you're into the wind, though, you should have no problems. I've spent time offshore doing penalty runs for transmission chip plugs, which required 30 minutes of running with 'some pitch', and with a good headwind I could pick it up into an OGE hover, then set it down on the deck, with my feet flat on the floor, never touching the pedals. Get it in a crosswind, however, and it's an entirely different story.

 

You may already know all this, but if 10,000 hours in a 206 taught me anything, it's that, and I think it's something everybody ought to know, and there just can't be too much repetition of it. More 206 accidents are related to LTE than just about anything.

[Darkhorse]

I was in the Medevac in Hawaii when I was in the Army (crewchief) but that was the only job I LOVED in the Army. I would wake up at 2 in the morning and think..man I cant go to work for 4 more hours. The only bad part ofcourse for me and most people is picking up kids, and drunk driving accidents, usually you were picking up the drunk because he was the only one to survive the accident.

[Gomer Pylot]

Some people simply shouldn't play in the deep end of the gene pool. We've done an inordinate number of flights for people who were riding ATVs in the middle of the night, and ran into fences, and were nearly decapitated. We've covered motocross races where they had 4-yearold kids racing. What possesses someone to spend thousands of dollars put their 4-yearold on a motorcycle to race on a motocross track? What possesses people to have them ride their 4-wheelers drunk in the middle of the night at top speed without lights? The drunk drivers I can sort of understand, but some people simply boggle my mind.

 

We've also been doing a lot of flights for kids mauled by pit bulls lately, some very severely, and one died in Texas yesterday from it. People simply will not learn, it seems.

[FredR]

Gomer,

Roger that on the 206 tail rotor. I think that the performance charts are more of a tail rotor limitation than anything else. I understand that the L4 is a huge improvement but do not have any first hand knowledge. On the ATV issue, every aircraft in our program were in the air at the exact same time with ATV injuries. First big weekend of the year and apparently most folks forgot to pack the common sense.

Fred

[Gomer Pylot]

Yeah, the common sense takes up too much room, so they throw in another 6-pack of beer instead.

 

I don't know about the L4 either, but I also hear that the improved tail rotor is better. I guess we'll find out from the NTSB reports over the next few years.

[Cruzin Chris]

Congratulations, Chris! Just curious - since it sounds like you are fairly new to the EMS world, I was curious about your career path to get to this point.....

 

I was Air Force flying Hueys, single and twin engines and then MH-53s.

[deshi]

I have a question as a student pilot looking into ems. this is to all ems pilots.

Have you ever flown someone in and after words went to check on them to see how they are doing, or is that something you avoid doing, or do you never know who you are flying?

[Cruzin Chris]

I haven't, nor do I think I would. I have seen patients who write letters to the crews thanking them for the flight though.

[Wally]

I have a question as a student pilot looking into ems. this is to all ems pilots.

Have you ever flown someone in and after words went to check on them to see how they are doing, or is that something you avoid doing, or do you never know who you are flying?

 

I try to keep it entirely impersonal, so, as a rule- no. I don't go into the hospital unless it's absolutely unavoidable, trauma centers especially.

 

That said, I have flown people who were awake, aware, seemed to enjoy the flight, and they're more than weight on the stretcher.

[Gomer Pylot]

Whether I go into the hospital depends mostly on the weather. In Texas in August, I generally go inside, because it's just too hot to stay out on the pad. I may go inside in the winter, if it's really cold. It's not usually my first choice, though.

[Cruzin Chris]

I stopped going into the ER with the med crews after they kept putting me to work. I just got my EMT-B for a lifeguarding job that I do on my off time.