AirMed&Rescue March 2022 by Voyageur Group

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AIRMED&RESCUE

March 2022

ISSUE 124

Remote rescues in British Columbia

MARCH 2022

Hoisting with Blackcomb Helicopters

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The worlds largest civilian operators, coast guards and armed forces are thrilled about the performance and the minimal maintenance required. Leading helicopter manufacturers even include or recommend our modern equipment as standard in new SAR helicopters. Lite Flite Helicopter Rescue Equipment is proudly designed and made in Denmark. For more information, please see www.lite-flite.aero, email us at info@lite-flite.aero or call us at +45 7558 3737. We will do our utmost to help you.

Lite Flite Helicopter Rescue Equipment is manufactured in accordance with CE Council Regulative 2016/425 with later amendments, and is tested and type certified according to European Norm EN813:2008, EN1497:2007, EN358:2018, EN362:2005, EN365:2007, EN364:1996 and later AIRMED&RESCUE changes, as appropriate

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EDITOR’S COMMENTS It’s a truism when they say ‘you never stop learning’. Having spent most of my working life as a book publisher and author specialising in aviation and military subjects, to be given the opportunity to act as caretaker editor of AirMed&Rescue magazine is a real joy. The disciplines of book and magazine publishing are, well, the same but different – at the end of the day they’re both driven by schedules and deadlines, but these imperatives shouldn’t distract from the pleasure of working with the wider aviation and medical communities. In the case of AirMed, this band of professionals includes HEMS and SAR pilots and crews, physicians and paramedics, aerial firefighters, coastguard and airborne police services. Not forgetting, of course, the journalists and writers whose words and pictures grace the pages of the magazine. This month, our coverage of the airborne special missions sector includes Kim Germishuys’ insights into the gruelling training required to become a rescue swimmer; physician Dr Timothy Lenz relates how patient intubation is the highest-stake skill a HEMS crew can have; offshore line and medevac helicopter pilot Ken Saumure gives sage advice about managing the risks of icing in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC); and members of the air medical community share their thoughts with Lauren Haigh on the ways virtual reality (VR) can help enhance training. I hope you enjoy this, my first issue of AirMed&Rescue, and I look forward to bringing you further engaging and relevant features and interviews over the next few months.

Editor Jonathan Falconer jonathan@voyageur.com

Front page image © Spencer Watson

www.airmedandrescue.com

Editor-in-Chief: Ian Cameron Senior Editor: Jonathan Falconer Editor: Mandy Langfield

FEATURES

Sub-Editors: Clara Bullock, Oliver Cuenca Advertising Sales: Marton Modis, Lawrence Pryer Design: Rosi Yip, Will McClelland, Robbie Gray Web: Tom Reed Marketing: Kate Knowles, Philippa Jowett

NEWS 6

FAA reports a 41-per-cent increase in laser strikes in 2021

UK MoD orders five Airbus H135 helicopters

Editorial: tel: +44 (0)117 922 6600 email: editor@airmedandrescue.com

AirMed2022 – the event returns for June this year

Advertising: tel: +44 (0)117 922 6600 email: sales@airmedandrescue.com

Finance: Elspeth Reid, Alex Rogers, Kirstin Reid Contact Information:

Online: www.airmedandrescue.com @airmedandrescue www.linkedin.com/company/airmedand-rescue Subscriptions: www.airmedandrescue.com/subscribe subscriptions@voyageur.co.uk Published on behalf of Voyageur Publishing & Events Ltd Voyageur Buildings, 19 Lower Park Row, Bristol, BS1 5BN, UK The information contained in this publication has been published in good faith and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. Neither the publisher nor Voyageur Publishing & Events Ltd can accept any responsibility for any error or misinterpretation. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. All liability for loss, disappointment, negligence or other damage caused by reliance on the information contained in this publication, or in the event of bankruptcy or liquidation or cessation of the trade of any company, individual or firm mentioned, is hereby excluded.

Printed by Pensord Press Limited © Voyageur Publishing & Events 2022

AirMed&Rescue ISSUE 124

SSN

2059-0822 (Print) ISSN 2059-0830 (Online)

4 in this AIRMED&RESCUE Materials publication may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Spectrum Aeromed launches Infinity 5000X

What does it take to become a helicopter rescue swimmer?

Italian Army NH-90 to the rescue

Elevating HEMS training with VR

IN THIS ISSUE INTERVIEWS 22

Rob Munday SR3 Rescue Concepts/ Blackcomb Helicopters

Rear Admiral James Robb NTSA

Jeff Yarnold BOOST HEC Systems, Inc.

Jonathan Castorena Bell Helicopters

Bruce Webb Airbus Helicopters

INDUSTRY VOICES 30

NAAMTA Global on international helicopter hoisting standards

The big chill – flying in icing conditions

Learning from Black Summer – aerial firefighting in Australia

MEDICAL INSIGHT 54

How good is your first-pass success rate?

PROVIDER PROFILE 68

Air Rescue Group

HEMS operations – have respect for the weather

www.airmedandrescue.com

Babcock Italia receives approval for electronic logbook The approval by Italian agency ENAC is the culmination of over 18 months of trials by Babcock of the technology Babcock Mission Critical Services Italia has received approval from

Italy’s National Civil Aviation Authority for the implementation of a new electronic Helicopter Technical Logbook (HTL). The approval follows a development process which included 18 months of trials of the technology by flight

FAA reports a 41-per-cent increase in laser strikes in 2021 The agency recorded 9,723 incidents in 2021, continuing an upward trend which has seen laser strike incidents more than triple since records began in 2010 The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that it received 9,723 reports of laser strikes from pilots in 2021 – the

highest annual number on record. This represents a 41-percent increase compared with 2020, when 6,852 incidents were reported, and continues an upward trend which has seen laser incidents almost double from the 5,663 incidents reported in 2018, and more than triple the 2,776 incidents reported when

crews and technicians, alongside their standard paper HTLs. Babcock says that the advantages offered by the transition to an electronic HTL include the ‘complete dematerialization of the flight data recording, real-

time updates, greater speed and ease of entering data and zero paper’. The company said that the reduction in paper usage will support its efforts to reduce unnecessary waste and become more sustainable in future.

records began in 2010. Hawaii and the District of Columbia were the worst offenders per capita, reporting 10.45 and 10.24 incidents per person in 2021, followed by New Mexico (9.07), Utah (8.43), New Hampshire (7.83) and Tennessee (7.35). In a statement, the FAA stated: “Shining a laser at an aircraft is a serious safety threat. Many types of high-powered lasers can incapacitate pilots, many of whom are flying airplanes with hundreds of passengers. Pilots have reported 244 injuries since the FAA began recording data on laser strikes in 2010.”

up to $30,800 for multiple strikes. Additional criminal penalties from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies can also be incurred depending on your jurisdiction. The FAA issued $120,000 of fines for laser strikes in 2021 and encourages members of the public to report laser strikes to them and local law enforcement when encountered. FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said: “The FAA continues to educate the public about the hazards of laser strikes because they pose such a serious threat to the safety of the pilot, the passengers and everyone in the vicinity of the aircraft.” The FAA has created an online data visualisation tool which can be used to view laser strike data from 2010 to 2021, highlighting trends by geographic area, per capita data, time of day and year.

Laser attacks on aircraft can result in substantial fines and other criminal penalties The FAA also reminded the public that the offence can result in fines of up to US$11,000 per violation, and

UK MoD orders five Airbus H135 helicopters The UK military already operates a fleet of 29 H135s as training aircraft at its Defence Helicopter Flying School in Shropshire The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has ordered an additional five H135 helicopters from manufacturer 6

AIRMED&RESCUE

Airbus Helicopters. The H135s are equipped with two Safran Arrius 2B2Plus turboshaft engines and are capable of top speeds of 278km/h, with a maximum range of 609km. They have a maximum takeoff weight of 2,980kg. The UK has reportedly

selected the H135 to replace the country’s ageing fleet of Aerospatiale Gazelle aircraft, which are due to be phased out by March 2024, according to FlightGlobal. The UK military already operates 29 of the H135 ‘Juno’ helicopters for training purposes at its Defence

Helicopter Flying School (DHFS) at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire, England. The school is where all UK military rotorcraft pilots are trained. The first Juno helicopter arrived at RAF Shawbury on April 2017. The DHFS also operates a fleet of seven Airbus H145 ‘Jupiter’ helicopters.

airbus.com

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THE DIFFERENCE IS H E A R T B E AT

Seconds count when lives are on the line. It’s why every feature of the Airbus H145 has been designed for safe, effective, and fast operations. With easy patient loading, state-of-the-art avionics to reduce pilot workload and a safer working area on the ground, the H145 ensures people get the medical care they need as fast as possible. All of this has made the H145 one of the emergency medical services market leaders around the globe – helping people every single day and making sure the world remains a beautiful place. www.airmedandrescue.com

AirMed 2022 coming up in Austria The leading air medical transport event will take place in Salzburg from 28-30 June 2022

AirMed Congress will be held in Salzburg from 28–30 June 2022. What can participants look forward to? For AirMed 2022, we aim to From 28-30 June 2022, the share perspectives, knowledge OEAMTC Air Rescue Service and ideas around the topics of will host the AirMed World air ambulance and helicopter Congress. This year, the emergency service. AirMed regular event organized 2022 is sure to be a great under the auspices of EHAC experience for all participants (the European HEMS and and we hope that it will be the Air Ambulance Committee) most appealing conference will be held in the beautiful so far. We can hardly wait to and historic city of Salzburg reunite air rescue professionals in Austria. from all over the world in the scenic city of Salzburg. The spacious Salzburg The scientific committee has Congress Center provides worked hard to secure some the perfect venue for excellent and well-known interdisciplinary exchange speakers for an interactive among the aeromedical and outstanding program. community, while the baroque Finally, the medieval city city center offers ample of Salzburg is a stunning possibilities for informal centre for the accompanying post-conference exchange of spouses, families and friends ideas. The congress program of the delegates. with its many opportunities to get involved is already AirMed Congress regularly well underway. Wolfgang brings together the air Voelckel, Medical Director of rescue community. What is OEAMTC Air Rescue Service the philosophy behind this is also responsible for creating year's event? the congress program. Networking in air rescue is AirMed&Rescue spoke key. AirMed 2022 provides to Wolfgang briefly about the platform to meet with the event. colleagues and specialists

from all over the world. To facilitate the exchange of ideas and fruitful discussions, the conference board has included some new formats in the program this year such as a ‘medical café’ and a ‘speakers’ corner’. ‘United in quality care by air’ is the motto of AirMed 2022. This is what we hope to realize with our partners, colleagues, and friends. Apart from a few details, the program is almost ready. From your point of view what are the highlights and where are the focal points of this event? The scientific committee developed a program that highlights ‘burning’ and the topics most relevant to the industry. AirMed 2022 will focus on the entire chain of survival comprising appropriate dispatch, rapid response, and optimal care on site and during flight. Minimizing time to emergency and definitive care by maximizing competence and proficiency are the key factors to be discussed. I am convinced that we will match the expectations of our delegates. But you

asked about the focal point. As outlined before, it is our major goal to enable, facilitate and promote knowledge transfer between participants, lecturers and professionals. Best practices from around the world, practical tips and inspiring talks for professional rescuers will be the target of the program. Is the event dedicated exclusively to HEMS or does it also include fixed-wing operations? AirMed is the congress for all air rescue providers and stakeholders. HEMS and fixed-wing belong to the same family and many topics are of major interest for both. Of note is the AirMed motto is ‘united in quality care by air’ – which is true for both kinds of aircraft and all the people behind airborne operations. AirMed 2022 will offer outstanding educational programs, exhibits and networking opportunities for attending professional rescuers. Registration for the conference is already open and attendees can register online at www. airmed2022.eu. Registrants may choose from several options that match with their various interests, budgets and availabilities. Register by 31 March to receive the early bird discount on conference passes and events. Details about the congress and the updated program are also available via the website. For further information please contact airmed2022@oeamtc.at.

AIRMED&RESCUE

Saving lives. Anytime. Anywhere.

©Photo courtesy of Life Link III

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Spectrum Aeromed launches Infinity 5000X Spectrum Aeromed’s latest product has been designed with and for flight nurses and air medical teams. The new 5000X system was designed with crew needs in mind and consists of one common base with an interlocking stretcher. This solution offers a smaller footprint with fewer parts, creating lighter weight equipment for easier installation. By integrating this new footprint into the existing aircraft cabin, the 5000X also offers maintenance crews a quicker transition time. With a focus on improved patient and installer experiences, Spectrum Aeromed designed the module with more

clearance, easier access for maintenance, and improved aesthetics. Stretcher bridge improves patient access Key features of the new equipment include a newly designed stretcher bridge that allows unobstructed access when caring for patients and when transferring the patient onto and off the stretcher. All controls and gauges are centrally located on the base unit, with dual USB ports and three individual universal electrical outlets. “As we celebrate our 30th anniversary this year, we are very excited to introduce our new equipment model

and features to the air ambulance community,” said Matthew Christenson, VP Account Executive for Spectrum Aeromed. Spectrum Aeromed has certified the 5000X in the Pilatus PC-12 and in the coming months will be

Survival Flight and TMH operate north Florida air ambulance service The service will be operated using a Bell 407 helicopter based at TMH’s hospital in Tallahessee, and will be available at all hours

24/7, and will employ a Bell 407 helicopter alongside a dedicated crew of around 15 people. Crew members will include pilots, paramedics, flight nurses, a mechanic and a Air ambulance provider base leader. Survival Flight began operating The air ambulance will be services in northern Florida used both to transport patients on 1 February in partnership from rural facilities to the TMH with Tallahassee Memorial hospital, and to respond to Healthcare (TMH). incidents in collaboration with The service, which will local emergency services. operate from TMH’s hospital TMH says that it anticipates in Tallahessee, will offer working with a range of emergency transport services partner facilities within within a 190km radius, the service’s operational transferring critical patients to radius, such as George E the hospital’s Bixler Trauma Weems Memorial Hospital & Emergency Center – in Apalachicola, Doctors’ the region’s only Level II Memorial Hospital in Perry Trauma Center. and Calhoun-Liberty Hospital The service will be operational in Blountstown, to accept 10

AIRMED&RESCUE

patients via the helicopter. The service is expected to significantly improve medical access across rural counties The service is the first of its kind in the region, and the 21st location across the US Southeast and Midwest under the Survival Flight umbrella. It is expected to greatly improve access to care for patients across the region, particularly in rural areas. “It won’t take long for the community to start hearing and seeing testimonies from patients and families saying that the helicopter saved their lives,” said Harold Newton,

incorporating the equipment into both its existing and new STC's. Contact Spectrum Aeromed to learn more. View the latest module at the company’s exhibit at the HAI Heli Expo in Dallas Booth 7807. Regional Director for Survival Flight. “It will make a difference in somebody’s life the very first day it’s in the air.” “In some of our rural counties, they may only have one or two ambulances available at any given time,” said Kyrie Thomas, Executive Director of Emergency Services at TMH. “The helicopter is breaking down a barrier for these rural patients who need rapid access to a higher level of care.”

Sikorsky to build nine CH-53K helicopters for US Navy center of operations, critical in the Indo-Pacific region. These nine helicopters are part of 200 aircraft Program of Record for the US Marine Corps with deliveries beginning in 2025. “By embracing resilient, The CH-53K helicopters will be predictive logistics and built at Sikorsky headquarters sustainment, we are enabling in Stratford, Connecticut, CH-5K crews to make leveraging the company’s smarter, faster decisions, digital build and advanced to increase reliability, and technology production improve readiness and processes. material availability at reduced The CH-53K will further burden to the fleet,” said Bill Falk, Sikorsky Director support the US Marine Corps of CH-53K programs. “After in its mission to conduct expeditionary heavy-lift assault 50 years of supporting the transport of armored vehicles, CH-53E, Sikorsky has a deep understanding of the equipment and personnel to support distributed operations heavy-lift mission and an deep inland from a sea-based enduring partnership with the Sikorsky to build nine CH-53K helicopters for US Navy US-based Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, will build nine additional CH53K aircraft at a lower unit price than previous lot buys

US Marines Corps enabling our team and our proven supply chain to offer tailored solutions resulting in more efficient missions.” Sikorsky delivered five CH-53K King Stallion to US Marine Corps The factory is active with seven CH-53K aircraft in build, and there are 47 more aircraft in various stages of production. Sikorsky has made significant investments in workforce training, tooling, and machinery

to increase the number of aircraft built and delivered year over year. In total, Sikorsky has delivered five operational CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopters to the US Marine Corps in Jacksonville, North Carolina, with four more planned for delivery this year.

www.airmedandrescue.com

What does it take to become a Helicopter Rescue Swimmer? R

escue swimmers operate in conditions that can be intense, so their physical health and fitness is vital to being able to handle what’s thrown at them. Kim Germishuys, EURORSA board member and former volunteer helicopter rescue swimmer and instructor for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) in South Africa, describes what it takes to make the grade So, you want to be a helicopter rescue swimmer? You’ve seen the latest story about an offshore maritime rescue involving a helicopter or you’ve watched your local helicopter rescue team train. You might even live on the flightpath of your local search and rescue (SAR) helicopter and it’s been your dream to become a helicopter crewman ever since you can remember. But how do you get there, and what does it take to become a rescue swimmer? I come from Cape Town in South Africa, where nearly everyone who’s involved in mountain or sea rescue is a volunteer. I used to be a volunteer helicopter rescue swimmer and instructor for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) in South Africa, and being from a small country I always wondered what it would take to become a full-time helicopter rescue swimmer for one of the big SAR programs overseas. In search of information, I used to trawl the internet looking to find out how other organizations trained their rescue swimmers, their requirements and what it took to make it through the program. 12

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My favorites were the videos of candidates going through the US Coast Guard’s (USCG) Aviation Survival Technician Aviation School, otherwise known as AST A-School. But my hunger for information on the industry didn’t stop there. In fact, it led to me an organization called EURORSA – European Rescue Swimmers Association, a European and global network of rescue swimmers, coming together to share their knowledge and experiences with other rescue swimmers, asking questions on techniques, procedures, equipment and even fitness. EURORSA opened a whole world of information and knowledge sharing for me, and I would regularly reach out and ask fellow members questions about their training processes. Now, as a board member of EUROSA, I’m on the receiving end of a lot of these questions, so I reached out to some of our contacts in Finland, Sweden, the UK, Ireland, Portugal, the US and Italy, to find out what their organisations look for when recruiting new rescue swimmer candidates. Of course, there are many more countries that can be

Rescue swimmers

looked at and questions that can be asked, but then this article would become a book! Military or civilian operations Depending on the country, the SAR capability is provided by either the military or is contracted out to a civilian operator. In nations such as Italy, Finland and the US, maritime SAR is conducted by the military. Sami Ollia, a rescue swimmer for the Finnish Border Guard – Air Patrol Squadron, says that a rescue swimmer candidate needs to enlist in the Finnish Border Guard prior to beginning the internal recruitment process for the rescue swimmer program. The same pattern is followed in Italy, with the exception that potential candidates need to be under the age of 32 and must be qualified flight crew on either an Italian Coast Guard fixed- or rotary-wing asset, according to Fabio Pieretti, a rescue swimmer at the Italian Coast Guard. In countries like the UK and Ireland, the maritime aviation SAR sector is contracted out to civilian companies such as Bristow Helicopters Ltd in the UK, which is engaged to provide helicopter SAR for Her Majesty’s Coast Guard (HMCG), and CHC Ireland, which is retained as the helicopter SAR provider for the Irish Coast Guard. Both employ civilians who are trained in the emergency medical field. And then you have a smaller country like South Africa, where the military provides some of the aviation SAR capabilities, and volunteers such as the helicopter rescue swimmers from the NSRI, combined with medical crew from the state or private medical companies, provide the rescue crew capabilities. Entry requirements So, how do you crack into the industry, a very small tight-knit community of some of the hardest working and selfless people in the world? Unfortunately, there is no easy entry. It’s not like there’s a school where you can just sign up to the program, like a college or even

www.airmedandrescue.com

Rescue swimmers

pilot training academy. The conditions in which a rescue swimmer is expected to operate can be intense and a rescue swimmer’s physical health and fitness are vital to being able to handle what’s thrown at them. Each operator has a minimum fitness requirement, which is tested constantly throughout the course and then throughout the rescue swimmer’s career. Failing to meet the ongoing fitness requirement can see them being temporarily grounded or moved to another part of the operation. Therefore, fitness is an important part of the entry criteria. In the Italian Coast Guard, a potential rescue swimmer candidate is expected to pass a physical fitness test of a 400m run within 1min 15secs; a minimum of six pull-ups, swimming 100m front crawl in 1min 40secs; and carry a simulated injured casualty on their shoulders, weighing 75kg, for 200m within 1min 50secs. At CHC Ireland, hopefuls are put through a six-stage assessment, where they are expected to pass each element in order to be considered for the program. The elements consist of: strength, fitness and swim test; water confidence test; medical scenario simulator; flight test (to assess if a person is comfortable flying in a helicopter); an interview; psychometric and psychological evaluation.

Training Training a rescue swimmer is an expensive business that requires medical instruction, countless hours of ground school, flight hours and pool training, and it doesn’t stop there. Positions usually only come around when another rescue swimmer hangs up their fins. And once you are trained, you’re required by aviation law to remain current and keep your skills sharp on a 90-day cycle. On average, training a rescue swimmer

In Portugal, ‘a rescue swimmer’s training depends on the availability of 751 Squadron, which is not an instructional squadron, on the availability of instructors, who are operational rescue swimmers and, finally, on the availability of helicopters', making the duration of the different courses variable, according to Luis Silva, a rescue swimmer instructor with 751 Squadron, Portuguese Air Force, which operates the AgustaWestland EH-101 Merlin in the SAR role.

Each operator has a minimum fitness requirement, which is tested constantly throughout the course and then throughout the rescue swimmer’s career can take between six and 12 months from start to flying ‘solo’. The reason for the broad timescale can be due to outsourced courses such as Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) and firefighting, and aircraft availability. This is as well as the fact that a rescue swimmer instructor may identify areas where a candidate needs improvement and then decides that they need to spend a bit more time on that skill before proceeding with the course.

Except for Bristow Helicopters in the UK and the USCG, both of which run a formal type of course at their in-house training centers, operations such as the Swedish Maritime Administration, CHC Ireland and the Finnish Border Guard conduct their programs on active SAR bases. Running schedules on an active SAR bases ‘allows the student conduct their training while also being exposed to normal SAR crew training flights and SAR missions as they come in,’

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says Neville Murphey, Night Vision Imaging System (NVIS) Technical Crew Instructor for CHC Ireland. In a country like South Africa, where the rescue swimmer program is run entirely by volunteers for volunteers, it can take up to two years to fully train a rescue swimmer and ensure that they are ready for the challenges that lie ahead. According to Robert Fine, Deputy Station Commander for the NSRI’s Airborne Sea Rescue Unit: “The main reason for this is due to the number of training flights we are provided with, either by the Air Force and or private rescue organizations, as well as the number of theory and practical pool training sessions the volunteer is able to attend after hours during this time, too.” Regulation In most countries, technical crew members such as rescue swimmers are not regulated by their local aviation authorities in the way that pilots are, although rescue swimmer courses generally follow the same format from one country/operation to the next, with similar subjects, which are determined by operational needs. Only the UK CAA has published documentation regulating SAR technical crew members. The Helicopter Search and Rescue (SAR) in the UK National Approval Guidance CAP 999 is mentioned by Alec Aspden, Technical Crew Manager (TCM) for Bristow Helicopters Ltd: “The Bristow Winch Paramedic course (equivalent of rescue swimmer) comprises of a basic winch safety course using a static trainer, an ‘overland’ rescue phase using a synthetic Rescue Hoist Trainer (RHT), an overwater phase using a synthetic RHT and a ground school phase, all covering the subjects and skills as required by CAP 999. This is followed by an aircraft phase covering conversion to type.” Most countries have formulated their courses based on legacy programs from former military operations, drawing from others’ expertise, previous experiences and knowledge sharing with those within the industry, tailoring this information to their particular operation’s specific requirements. Swimming ability By now you may be wondering about what type of swimming ability it takes to be a rescue swimmer. Do they need to be of the standard of a competitive swimmer? No, one doesn’t, but one does need to become strong in the water and develop 16

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Rescue swimmers

good water confidence. I listen to the podcast ‘The Real ResQ’, hosted by former USCG rescue swimmer, Jason Quinn. A common fact that I have noticed among his guests is that on many occasions, those wishing to become rescue swimmers were in fact not swimmers before they decided that they wanted to apply for their respective programs. They took swimming lessons or taught themselves to swim by going down to the local community pool. They had the drive and determination to go after their goal of becoming a rescue swimmer, and with that they became stronger, better swimmers and their water confidence improved with time. Facing the elements Rescue swimmers can often face environmental challenges such as extreme cold. In the far north of Finland, some 30 to 50 per cent of flights, missions, and training are conducted in the dark and in temperatures that are well below freezing in winter. Ollia says that while it is normal to wear drysuits in winter time, they also have to wear them during the summer, where ambient temperatures can reach as high as +20° centigrade, but the water temperature does not go above +15° centigrade, making working conditions for the rescue swimmer and crew incredibly tough and uncomfortable. This is where being physically fit plays a vital role in being able to function bodily and mentally in tough environments. Medical care A rescue swimmer is not only expected to swim and save a casualty, they are also expected to provide medical care to that person, too. Whether it be on a ship or mountainside, and not just on the scene, but providing continued medical care until the casualty is handed over to a waiting medical team. This is why so many operations nowadays require that those applying for their programs have some form of prior medical education and are registered with that country’s health professional’s council. Teamwork A rescue swimmer needs to have the capacity and capability to operate in all types of conditions. I’m sure you’ll have gathered by now that a rescue swimmer’s role is not just in the water, it is to respond to wherever they are needed. In some operations, the rescue swimmer is known

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as a winchman, winch paramedic or rescue man, because of the multi-faceted environment in which they are expected to perform. According to Aspden: “The UK has an extensive and varied coastline surrounded by the North and Irish Seas, along with several mountain ranges including areas that are classed as Alpine. A technical crew member (TCM) can be conducting rescues from vessels … miles

crew, or be deployed to a vessel pitching and rolling in rough seas to treat and package an injured seafarer with only the help of the ship’s crew who have minimal medical experience, all the while knowing that the helicopter has only so much fuel available before needing to leave the scene, sometimes with as little as 10 minutes to ‘bingo’. In other cases, being deployed to flood or mass-casualty

Knowing one’s limits is an essential mental attribute to have, the ability to say no when a rescue swimmer realizes that the conditions are outside their physical and mental capabilities out in the seas and then be re-tasked to an ice rescue in the mountains with temperatures well below zero centigrade and wind speeds in excess of 50kts.” Working alone one moment and then as part of a team the next, depending on the situation, a rescue swimmer can be deployed to assist ground crew in the mountains and work alongside medical 20

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situations, where the rescue swimmer must make the hard decision of which casualty to recover first, as USCG rescue swimmers had to do during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Being a quick thinker and problem solver, while having the ability to keep going during adversity, are key attributes of a good rescue swimmer.

Mental toughness Being a rescue swimmer takes determination, grit, and the ability to remain calm and level-headed in a stressful situation. It also takes certain mental attributes, which rear crew chiefs are constantly on the lookout for. Former USCG rescue swimmer and current instructor at SR3 Rescue Concepts, Jason Quinn, says it’s the ‘don’t quit’ mindset that’s closely monitored during rescue swimmer training. Aspden looks for ‘effective intelligence, high level of physical fitness, stamina and emotional resilience’ when considering winch paramedic candidates. Being uncomfortable, and being able to work under pressure, is something that is expected of a rescue swimmer. The mental attributes and capacity of a rescue swimmer candidate’s ability to work alone and as part of a team are taken into serious consideration during the selection process and throughout the training program, along with the candidate’s physical fitness abilities. Karl-Johan Jansson of the Swedish Maritime Administration Helicopter Unit adds that while physical fitness is important, they assess ‘the other factors’ during a physical fitness test. “We get a unique opportunity to see

Rescue swimmers

how the recruits act in a group of people, if they support others or if everything is just about themselves. We get to see how they react under pressure and when they're tired. If they get cranky. If they stop listening. If they stop thinking,” say Jansson. A person’s capacity to function under pressure is vital in the rescue swimmer role; a ‘deer in the headlights’ scenario is an incredibly dangerous place to be when working in a hostile environment such as helicopter SAR. Knowing one’s limits is also an essential mental attribute to have, the ability to say no when a rescue swimmer realizes that the conditions are outside their physical and mental capabilities, so as not to put themselves or their crew in danger. “We might be someone else’s last hope and have to do all we can to help them, but if we hurt ourselves in that process, we won't be helping anyone but instead may make the situation even worse,” responds Jansson.

What’s next? A rescue swimmer’s training does not stop once they finish the program. They have to keep training for the worst-case scenario. Each operation has flight and skill currencies, which are set out in their operations manuals with the specific currencies relating to the rescue swimmer’s skills set. On average, these currencies are expected to be maintained within a 90-day period; in addition to that, rescue swimmers need to keep up their physical fitness to meet the demands mentioned earlier. Some operators have in-house gyms for crews to use while on duty. They are also expected to maintain their medical qualifications through Continued Professional Development (CPD) as set out by the relevant health professionals council. Make a person’s bad day a better day The common factor that runs through a helicopter rescue scenario is that if someone is in trouble, they are probably having the worst day of their life, and they are not in the best of locations either. While most helicopter programs vary in terms of their recruiting processes and training, they are all looking for the same kind of person in their future helicopter rescue swimmers. Someone with grit, who knows what they want, has the right mindset, the drive and determination to go after their goals, the ‘can do’ attitude of not wanting to give up in the face of adversity, yet knowing their own limits – and a willingness to make a person’s bad day a better day. Should you wish to follow the career path of a helicopter rescue swimmer, contact your local rescue organisation and find out what their requirements are.

With thanks to my sources: Sami Ollia – Finnish Border Guard; KarlJohann Jansson – Swedish Maritime Administration; Fabio Pieretti – Italian Coast Guard; Luis Silva – 751 Squadron, Portuguese Air Force; Robert Fine – National Sea Rescue Institute of South Africa; Alec Aspden – Bristow Helicopters Ltd; Neville Murphy – CHC Ireland; and Jason Quinn – SR3 Rescue Concepts.

About the author Kim Germishuys is a Board Member and SAR Technical Crew Member of EURORSA – Rescue Swimmer Association, and a former volunteer helicopter rescue swimmer and instructor for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) in South Africa.

Rescue swimmer training course formats Course formats follow the same general principle, but vary slightly according to each operator, based on the geographical area of operation and the type of aircraft being flown: • Ground school – company introductions, introduction to basic aviation (laws, CRM, flight and duty time limitations, flight dynamics, navigation and meteorology, dangerous goods, firefighting, first aid, for example) and then operation specific introductions to the SOPs, hoisting, the aircraft and equipment used • Medical training relating to the operation • Pool training – HUET, water confidence and swimming fitness, SOPs and use of rescue equipment

• Where possible and available a helicopter or hoist simulator is used as a controlled environment for training SOPs • Pre-flight training – NVIS, communication aides used, system operations such as Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) and radar, technical training on the aircraft • Flight training – day and night training, encompassing all factors mentioned above • The assessment – consisting of a written test and flight check. Once a rescue swimmer candidate has passed their initial training, they will be assigned to a senior rescue swimmer or instructor and will undergo a few months of flying under supervision before being rostered as the on-duty rescue swimmer.

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liver Cuenca spoke to Rob Munday, a hoist operator for Blackcomb Helicopters and instructor with SR3 Rescue Concepts, about his two careers, training new helicopter rescue crews, and what makes working in British Columbia so unique Your primary area of operation working for Blackcomb is British Columbia – what are the unique challenges of conducting helicopter operations in western Canada compared with other parts of the world? It’s a tough place to work at times. The weather here is always changing and the area around Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton is named the ‘sea-to-sky’ for good reason. We can climb from sea level

Rob Munday Blackcomb Helicopters in Squamish up to local peaks like Tantalus or Garibaldi, which sit between 8,0009,000ft (2.4-2.7km) only a few miles from base. We often encounter strong winds funneled by the Coast Mountains, and low cloud, heavy rain, icing conditions and turbulence can be found even on nice days around here. Careful planning and good decision making is really important, as even an emergency landing site can be hard to come by in a lot of the areas we fly in, if something was to go wrong. 22

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You operate out of Blackcomb Helicopters’ Squamish base. How many aircraft do they have there and what types? Blackcomb Helicopters as an organization operates around 22 aircraft. We don’t typically have ‘base’ aircraft that stay in one location for long, and our fleet is highly mobile depending on operational needs. We typically have at least one intermediate aircraft, either a Eurocopter AS350 or a Bell B407 in Squamish, and our Eurocopter EC135 lives in Squamish most of the time as well. On a

busy day we could have seven or eight aircraft here though, and in addition to the aircraft listed above, you’ll regularly see B206s, B212s, AS355s and even occasionally our EC130 passes through! Never a dull moment! In your role as a hoist operator, what memorable missions have you been on in the past year, and what made these ones stand out for you? Squamish is an amazing place, the scenery is incredible. It’s so hard to choose just one

Search & rescue

because every task we go on is memorable for its own reasons. From an operational perspective, one that stands out on the search and rescue (SAR) side is a rescue we did on one of our most prominent rock features here in Squamish, known as The Chief. A climber had injured themselves in a very technical location and we utilized a member of our local SAR team who was trained in the use of the ‘lezard’ – a device made by Petzl to facilitate safe insertion and extraction of personnel to locations that require attachment

capability in the last year. Being able to fly into a remote ocean inlet to clear fallen trees off power lines and hang a lineman on the hoist as he assesses and makes repairs – so that a community can get their lights back on – is very rewarding work. From my work with SR3 Rescue Concepts, it’s been a privilege to be able to provide hoist training to agencies all over the US like the Virginia State Police, the Spokane County Sherriff’s Department, and many others. I’d have to say that hoisting out of a Columbia

that perhaps lacks proficiency in their role can cause problems for the whole team. A pilot that struggles with aircraft control can rarely be overcome by even the best hoist operator. A hoist operator that cannot communicate effectively cannot be propped up by the most talented pilot. And a rescue specialist that isn’t totally comfortable with their role in the operation and the equipment they use can make everyone’s life very challenging. We always work to improve a pilot’s

to an anchor system. It was the first time we’d used the tool ‘in anger’, and it went really well. I was super proud of the team after that one. We’ve also been involved in some challenging and rewarding infrastructure projects with our powerline clients this year. Hoisting personnel near energized power lines provides a unique challenge, and I’ve really enjoyed scaling up our

Helicopters Boeing Vertol 107-II was an experience I won’t forget! As an instructor for SR3 Rescue Concepts, what are the most fundamental things you try to teach your new students? There’s a couple of things. We always try to look at a hoist operation as a team sport. A pilot, hoist operator or rescue specialist

aircraft control and communications; the biggest focus when training a new hoist operator is learning to maintain clear and concise communication while simultaneously performing other tasks, like preparing personnel for deployment and physically operating the hoist. For the rescue specialists on the cable, learning how rotor wash can affect their stability, and teaching good

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Search & rescue

body position when being hoisted is important, as well as building confidence in the equipment and techniques is key to ensuring the operation isn’t slowed down unnecessarily. What is the best way of mentally preparing yourself in the event of an emergency operation? Practice, preparation, and preplanning. When an actual operation feels just like the hundreds of training evolutions you’ve done previously it’s much less stressful. Being comfortable with how your equipment works, the sequence of events required to perform an actual rescue and being confident in your team of pilots and rescue specialists goes a long way. I’m a huge fan of training under controlled conditions for operations right up to the same level of complexity you’d be expected to carry out in the real world. I never want to show up to an incident scene and be expected to perform something for the first time. When you arrive, and have past experiences to draw on, it makes the operation much less stressful. How do you manage your two roles without them conflicting? Are you ever called to a rescue while instructing? It’s a juggle, for sure. Here at Blackcomb, we have a number of hoist operators that we utilize, and we always try to maintain a full coverage when conducting in-house training. We always try to avoid putting ourselves in a position where a training flight must be interrupted due to an actual call and ensure that we have backup resources available to respond during training. I’m very fortunate that Blackcomb sees huge benefit in the experience I gain by visiting various other agencies around the world and providing training to them. Although I’m there to teach, I’m also always learning things myself, and have picked up some great information from other agencies that I’ve been able to integrate back into Blackcomb’s hoist program upon my return. As

mentioned earlier, Blackcomb has a number of hoist operators available, and we always maintain coverage for local operations when I’m travelling for the instructional work I do with SR3. Likewise, from an SR3 perspective, I think that the experience I gain by maintaining an operational status makes me a better instructor as I’m always up to date on currency and proficiency. The knowledge and experience gained from operational tasks is such an asset to being a good instructor; I think those that are 100 per cent dedicated to only providing instruction, regardless of the field of work, often miss out on a different perspective that operational missions bring. You’ve talked to us before about how to choose the right kit for the job – but have there ever been any times when your kit has let you down on the job? In such a situation, do you work with the provider/ manufacturer to improve a product? Yes, absolutely! One example that’s exciting right now is not so much a time that gear has let us down but actually being able to improve on a product we use every day, in this case, the new, ‘First Responder’ navy blue flight suit we’ve helped Massif develop. Massif is already a market leader in producing a great range of practical and comfortable flameresistant products, and their vision for the First Responder Collection has taken their existing suit, which was largely military focused, to a whole new level for the rescue, air medical and law enforcement corner of the industry. It’s been incredible to provide input on the design of the new suit with features specific to the user’s needs, help with product testing in the field, and also assisting with creating some really cool marketing material for the product launch that we’re super excited to share with everyone very soon! I’ve had a chance to try the suit out already and it’s incredible – I can’t wait to put it to work. The Massif team has done a phenomenal job! My work with SR3 has also been a game changer in this regard. We get the opportunity to visit so many different operations and we’re always learning as we travel around. We’re always open to the idea that the equipment we’ve recommended to clients in the past may no longer be the best, or even the industry standard. It’s a constantly shifting and evolving target for the perfect products. We don’t manufacture any of our own gear, and we only recommend the best product for the unique needs of our individual customers.

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The industry is evolving so fast and for a very long time I feel like the speed of product development had been quite slow in its progress. In the last 10 years that evolution has gained momentum significantly. New gear is constantly being produced and techniques are ever-changing, so much so that the regulators often can’t keep up! Every vendor we work with has been incredibly receptive to the feedback we have, and we have seen great changes made to products based on this, which is great. CMC Rescue, Lifesaving Systems Corp, Massif and Petzl are four great examples of equipment manufacturers that SR3 have worked with that are very customer focused. We’ve received prototype/preproduction sample products from all of them and have been asked to provide feedback. Certainly, there has been equipment that has let us down on the job. It’s taken us a 26

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long time at Blackcomb to find what we consider the perfect tagline for stretcher hoisting operations. Finding the perfect balance of low-stretch, lightweight, but still with enough diameter to not cause rope burn for attendants on the ground is a challenge. We’ve probably tried about three or four rope types so far and haven’t found the ideal product – yet. Has the coronavirus pandemic affected how you operate in either of your roles at all? Absolutely! Here in Canada, we’ve been lucky enough to be able to continue doing all the same tasks as we were pre-pandemic, but it’s also increased the complexities and precautions that we need to take. Unfortunately, we’ve seen severely limited in-person training both on the flight operations side, as well as reduced interaction with our local SAR teams, so we’ve

had to work hard and get creative to ensure proficiency is maintained. A lot of the work we do is very tactile and it’s hard to get the same benefit over video calls and while maintaining social distancing. Being an essential service both on the SAR and the power line utility side of the business allows us to largely continue working. But masks and distancing have been a part of daily life, which presents challenges for sure. Down in the US, a lot of public-use agencies like police, fire and emergency medical service (EMS) units saw budgets put on hold due to the uncertainty of the whole situation, which delayed a lot of training classes. We had to maintain significant flexibility when scheduling training as agencies were affected by Covid-positive exposures and everchanging regulations. We were fortunate to have great cooperation from the agencies we

Search & rescue

did visit and were lucky to be able to deliver all our scheduled classes safely and successfully by taking the necessary precautions despite the hurdles. You’ve had a few different careers before you ended up in your current roles – including snow sports instructor and forest firefighter. How did you end up becoming a hoist operator and instructor, and how have these past roles informed what you do now? It’s been a different pathway to most, but I truly believe that every job I’ve had has contributed to getting me to where I am at today. I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left high school. Flying in helicopters wasn’t even on the radar, but I loved the outdoors, and leadership was always an interest of mine. I wanted to be a full-time firefighter but the age of entry was 21. I decided to take a two-year outdoor education diploma as I thought it would be an asset to my firefighter application. The university campus was based on a ski hill, and rather than taking a summer break, ours was in the winter and students were encouraged

to find work on the hill to add value to the outdoor education experience. That’s how I got into snow sports instruction. The instructional aspect was really interesting to me, and I found it very rewarding to take what I’d learned during my diploma and apply it in the real world. To offset my winter work I needed a summer job, and a fellow student and snowboard instructor recommended I apply as a seasonal forest firefighter. I did, got the job, and loved it! It wasn’t until my first season fighting fire before I realised that being involved in helicopters was a viable option. I was 21 at the time. I applied as a rappel crewmember in Victoria, Australia, the next season, and was lucky enough to be successful in my application. My first ever flight in a helicopter was coincidentally also the first time I rappelled out of one, which is a crazy thought! That position allowed me to meet several Canadians who suggested I try a northern hemisphere fire season. I again applied for a position on a wildfire rappel crew in Alberta, Canada, and was successful.

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In 2008 I moved to Calgary, Alberta, to continue a span of what would be six back-toback summer seasons in Canada and Australia fighting wildfires. The experience I gained in both countries was incredible and I learned so much about incident management, leadership, and general helicopter operations purely because of the amount of exposure I had to them – we were flying around 100 hours per season and rappelling into as many as 30 active wildfires a year. I returned to Australia in 2011, and took an introductory crewman course with what was then Careflight, now Lifeflight, in Queensland. This course was two weeks long, and covered basic aircrew skills such as Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET), aircraft safety, and hoisting operations. Combined with previous qualifications from my rappel firefighting position in Victoria some years earlier, I took the plunge and started looking for work. I was very lucky again to be in the right place at the right time and was offered a dual-role aircrew/rescue crew officer position in Rockhampton, Queensland.

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to wildfire management, MPT and even powerline maintenance. I think this huge diversity in training courses (and instructors), work genres and aircraft I was exposed to has given me an incredible understanding and exposure to the many facets of the helicopter industry and, combined with my education background, I’ve naturally found myself gravitating towards instruction. I was able to observe the good and the bad from all those experiences and blend them together, which helps form the instructional style and techniques I use today. When I was down at a Heli-Expo conference a couple of years ago I was introduced by one of the instructors who provided me training for the MPT work I had done to two Las Vegas metro police officers, Dave and Jason, who explained their vision for what is now SR3 Rescue Concepts. We immediately realized that there was a good fit there, and I’ve been an active member of the SR3 team for almost three years now. That position has taken me all over the US, providing training to law enforcement, fire, EMS and civilian personnel and organizations for all types of work and we’re getting busier all the time. We’re very excited for the future.

During that time, I was exposed to some phenomenal SAR and EMS missions including offshore hoisting, flood rescues, motor vehicle accidents, scene calls, night vision goggles (NVG) operations, instrument flight rules (IFR) flying and everything in between. This position lasted nearly two years before I decided to move back to Canada full time, to live with my girlfriend at the time – who is now wife – and returned to the Alberta Wildfire Service. One day, while sitting in a field on standby with our Bell 205 waiting for a fire call, our pilot mentioned to me that the company he worked for had won a contract to perform Marine Pilot Transfer (MPT) hoisting in northern British Columbia, right up by the Alaska border, and he had remembered I had done some hoisting before and recommended I apply. Only a couple of short months later I was hoisting marine pilots to ships in what would ultimately be the first commercial MPT 28

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helicopter hoist operation in Canada – a proud moment for our team! When that contract unfortunately came to an end two years later, I approached Blackcomb Helicopters and asked if they’d be interested in some assistance in building their hoist program. The feedback and positive response I got from the Blackcomb team was astounding and they were keen to get me involved. They had a strong vision for the program and I’m still very thankful to this day that they chose me to be involved in executing that vision. It’s a great organization to be a part of! My role with SR3 really is another dream come true. During my career up until the time I got started with SR3 I had received formal helicopter training from five different organizations, in two countries, and flown on a dozen or more helicopter types for many different types of work, from SAR, EMS and on law enforcement operations, through

As someone who has already clearly achieved a lot in his life, where do you see your career progressing in future? I’m a huge advocate for being open to new ideas, and I believe very strongly that there’s always a better way to do things. I’m constantly learning and want to continue to travel, network, and grow my experience through interactions with other members of the helicopter hoisting community. I’m stoked with where I’ve landed here in Squamish, British Columbia. I’m motivated to continue building the program we have here at Blackcomb and hopefully progress into new and exciting types of work that we’ve only just scratched the surface of here in Canada so far. I’d love to see more dedicated, appropriately funded, and capable resources for SAR available here locally in BC and I’m working hard to try and make some of those things a reality. I love the work I do with SR3 Rescue Concepts and hope to continue to build that organisation into what I know it has the potential to become, and we’re well on the way! The company is doing great work, for all the right reasons – making the helicopter rescue industry safer, and I’m excited to continue to be a part of that!

Hoist standards

NAAMTA Global International Helicopter Hoisting Standards I

n late 2021, the compliance consultancy Aerospace Qualified Entity (AQE) published its final report after the fatal accident involving an Irish Coast Guard Sikorsky S-92 helicopter at Blackrock, off Co Mayo, on 14 March 2017, that claimed the lives of its four crew. Later, AirMed&Rescue magazine published an article relating some of the findings (AMR 122, December 2021, Coast Guard crash prompts call for international SAR standards). Included in this feature was a proposal from Search and Rescue International Ltd requesting an oversight program for search and rescue operations, writes Amy Arndt, Program Director at National Accreditation Alliance of Medical Transport Applications (NAAMTA)

At that time, NAAMTA Global and Pegasus Aero Services had been working to develop accreditation programs for international hoist operators and Part 133/135 operators in the US to support helicopter hoist external load and hoist medical transport industry needs. NAAMTA Global, known for its medical transport accreditation program, and aviation consultancy Pegasus Aero Services, are releasing two new accreditation programs: Helicopter Hoist Accreditation and Hoist Medical Transport Accreditation. These two accreditations apply worldwide standards for helicopter hoist operations with a focus on quality and safety. NAAMTA created a development team, engaging subject matter experts and professionals in several aspects of the industry.

Their extensive experience and qualifications enabled them to conduct numerous hours of research and comprehensive interviews with international and domestic operational representatives, including hoist pilots, hoist operators, hoist/rescue technicians, training academy directors, pilots, maintenance directors, and aviation management personnel from across the world. Furthermore, using their expertise with regulatory authority requirements, which include the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the two NAAMTA Hoisting Accreditation Standards were created. They enable operators to reach for and execute their helicopter hoisting operations at a higher

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level of service by validating their processes against those outlined in the NAAMTA Helicopter Hoisting Standards. The standards focus on providing hoist services that are: • Compliant with regulatory authorities and internal policy and procedures • Safe • Professionally executed • Ensure the workforce is well-trained, qualified, and proficient • Monitored by an engaged management team. Compliance The NAAMTA Helicopter Hoisting Accreditation Standards promote a series of evaluated tasks derived from an extensive review of demonstrated best practices held by a multitude of current operators and training schools. These best practices, in most cases, go above and beyond what a country or governing body may have published in its guidelines for the execution of search and rescue hoist operations. Compliance is assessed by NAAMTA’s and Pegasus Aero Services’ experienced auditors through an audit of documentation, employee interviews, on-site evaluations, and process reviews, all of which are conducted using ISO 9001:2015 auditing guidelines. Audits of internal procedures, investigations of safety and quality escapes, timely addressing of safety hazards, and monitoring quality and safety metrics, are paramount for management to keep a finger on the pulse of their operations, and never be caught off guard or blindsided by an incident or accident that was otherwise avoidable. Compliance with the accreditation standards demonstrates that the organization has exemplary procedures, policies, training programs, safety systems, maintenance programs, and conducts internal evaluations as prescribed. Safety Safety is an all-encompassing umbrella to an operation. Safety is about moving forward to mitigate operational risks and developing a safety culture where everyone is involved in measuring and mitigating risks. Safety is as important to the organization as it is for those

Hoist standards

involved in the operation and the applicable environments. The Hoisting Accreditation Standards and Audit evaluates the organization’s safety program to identify the safety culture, company participation, and helicopter hoisting operations. Professionally executed Hoisting operations, to be professionally executed, require licensed and certified individuals who are continuously involved in training and qualifications programs. Using the organization’s mission statement and focusing on historical mission conduct, the organization must define a roadmap to ensure crewmember qualifications and proficiencies meet company requirements. The training program is required to: • ensure crew members are proficient on their ‘core-set’ of hoist missions • execute each hoist mission ‘core-set’ frequently

• expand proficiency to address potential

future mission sets.

Engaged management team Management must be actively involved in risk decisions to effectively allocate resources to reduce the risk, eliminate the hazard, and implement controls. They must ensure the organization has the proper oversight through wellestablished quality assurance and internal auditing programs. The accreditation standards and audit require management to have

NAAMTA Global Please visit us at HAI Heli-Expo in Dallas, 8-10 March 2022, Booth 9357, and join us at our presentation on Thursday 10 March at 09:30. The location will be announced during the trade show.

appropriate policies, safety, quality performance objectives, internal auditing, communications, risk management, and training programs. And – management must be seen as a role model to the organization, embracing a fair and wellexecuted safety culture. NAAMTA Executive Director, Roylen Griffin, states: “NAAMTA’s vision is to create measurable industry standards for international helicopter hoist operators and US Part 133/135 medical transport operators resulting in enhanced quality care, ensuring patient safety, and providing the standards required to attain a high level of excellence and achieve recognition and certification in quality.” For additional information on the Helicopter Hoist and the Hoist Medical Transport Accreditations, or are interested in participating on the advisory board, please contact NAAMTA Global at info@ naamta.com, or by calling +1 801.756.7215.

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Italian Army NH-90 to the rescue Dino Marcellino describes how the NH-90 is coming into its own as a CSAR aircraft with the Italian Army’s Aviation Division Thanks to the introduction of the NHIndustries NH-90 medium utility helicopter, the Italian Army’s Aviation Division has revolutionised its approach to medevac and combat search and rescue (SAR) operations. The NH-90 has now become the main helicopter type for these special missions, replacing the older Agusta-Bell AB-412 and AB-205. Space in the cabin means care en route The larger interior cabin of the NH-90 allows crews to work easily on the patient, with enough space to perform tracheal intubation. Thanks to this capability, the Army has changed its operational philosophy. With the older aircraft, in an operational theatre like Afghanistan, the first approach would have been to ‘stay and play’ – medical staff tried to do as much as possible on the ground before boarding the aircraft with the patient. For example, performing intubation and venous-drainage access on the ground, since space onboard helicopters available at that time was limited. This approach, of course, increased the team’s exposure to enemy fire. With the NH-90, the Army has been able to move away from 'stay and play' to 'scoop and run', where the patient is evacuated from the scene as quickly as possible. A combination of the old and new procedures is now 'scoop and play' – to quickly evacuate the patient and work on them at the same. CSAR procedures have been compared to a Formula One pit stop where each member of the team has a specific action to perform. Everyone has their sphere of expertise, which partly overlap. The doctor knows that they will have to deal with the management of the airway, a nurse undertakes the venous access, while another nurse monitors the patient’s vitals. The rescue is carried out in a 'horizontal' manner, wherein everyone knows what to do 34

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about the injured person, without waiting for instructions from the team leader. Equipment and medevac techniques For medevac/rescue missions, the Italian Army has chosen to equip its NH-90 with STARMED’s Patient Transport Modular System (PTS). The PTS, which contains medical equipment and the patient, is adaptable to any system or vehicle that is

compliant with NATO standard, whether on the land, at sea or in the air. Where it is not possible to land, crew descend from the helicopter in the hover – fast roping and rappelling are used to put a team on the ground quickly; the hydraulic rescue hoist is used to land and recover personnel and a stretcher. All require specific training for their use. The NH-90 is a multi-role machine and in Italian Army use it comes equipped with a dedicated hydraulic hoist system capable of performing a whole range of activities, not simply rescue. The hoist for the NH90 has been designed and produced by the German company Vincorion/Jenoptik Advanced Systems GmbH. Images © Dino Marcellino

SAR training

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SAR training

Training technology

irtual Reality, or VR, has a seemingly limitless potential that is being harnessed in industries the world over. The global air medical sector is beginning to tap into this, with VR representing new opportunities for SAR and HEMS training. Here, members of the air medical community share their thoughts with Lauren Haigh on the ways VR can help enhance training Medical and military training, managing and treating mental health conditions and virtual tours of museums are just a small handful of the possible uses of VR. New advances in this area mean that the potential applications are expanding all the time. In the air medical world, flight simulators and VR aircrew trainers can be used to enhance various types of crucial training. SAR missions can be fraught with danger and team members require specific skill sets and extensive training to ensure they have both the confidence and ability to succeed in often perilous situations. VR is a useful way to safely insert team members into simulations of situations they may encounter. For example, the LifeFlight Training

It’s an efficient way of exposing crews to a vast range of situations, in a controlled environment Academy utilises VR for training helicopter pilots and aircrew officers. “It’s an efficient way of exposing crews to a vast range of situations, in a controlled environment,” said Peter Elliot, LifeFlight Training Academy General Manager. Elliot told AirMed&Rescue about the Academy’s two simulators: “The Aircrew Officer Virtual Reality simulator was introduced in 2020, to help train aircrew in winching and other operational skills needed in the aeromedical and SAR world. Physically, it’s a basic replica of a helicopter cabin, with a moving winch cable and winch pendant. The trainee wears a VR headset and the relevant safety gear – and performs missions designed by the trainer, which are played through

the headset,” he said. “The Academy also features a Thales Reality H AW139 Level D Full Flight Simulator. While typically not considered VR in the same sense as the aircrew simulator, this is used to train helicopter pilots in a mission-oriented, regulated environment. It includes the same control panels and instruments as real AW139 aircraft and immerses the trainee in the scenario with large screens and audio, while actually moving in accordance with the flight.” LifeFlight’s flight simulator software is run by Thales, while at VRM Switzerland

on VR solutions for medical training and is in the process of designing an in-house VR component for VR-based medical training. Managing Director Paul Tiba believes there is a gap in the market here: “At this point, I don’t believe the right product for fixed wing air ambulance repatriations is on the market yet, thus we have taken the approach of designing our in-house training system, which is in alignment with our dedicated medical training department SimAirlec, combining VR and real-life scenarios with the help of our CAE Apollo mannequin.”

– which builds realistic and professional flight training solutions – the team has developed its own software in cooperation with IPACS Aerofly FS. Excitingly, VRM-Switzerland has created the world’s first VR training device to be approved by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). AirMed&Rescue spoke with VRM-Switzerland’s CEO Fabian Riesen, who told us more about what this entailed: “We had to meet requirements such as a high-resolution representation of the cockpit and the landscape. To operate close to ground with a helicopter, exactly replicated ground structures are vital. All this at a fast image build rate. In addition, the correct simulation of the helicopter’s behaviour is essential for professional pilot training,” he commented. AirMed&Rescue also spoke with Airlec, a market leader in aeromedical transportation that is currently working

Safety first When it comes to the different types of simulations used in air medical training, a common theme is the creation of realistic scenarios that will not only benefit the team, but will also have a keen focus on safety. “Our trainers use their years of flying experience to create realistic scenarios. LifeFlight utilises flight data monitoring to increase flight safety and operational efficiency as part of our preventative safety approach,” Elliot told AirMed&Rescue. Training is tailored to the specific crew member in question and can incorporate various elements as desired, as Riesen articulated: “Moving people and objects can be used to recreate scenarios with possible critical incidents. We can set up specific scenarios to promote crew competencies and improve mission safety." For Airlec, a variety of unusual scenarios are used across a range of mission components: “In collaboration with SimAirlec we

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provide training environments for medical professionals in the aeromedical and hospital world,” confirmed Tiba. “We can train in airplanes, ground ambulances as well as hospitals, which allows us to cover all parts involved in a mission.” Being able to control the environment and ensure safety is a key benefit of using VR in aircrew training as opposed to training crew

in operational aircraft, as well as the ability to create scenarios that would be difficult to replicate in real life. Using VR, crew members in training can be exposed to different challenging scenarios, finessing their skills without being exposed to danger so that when they encounter future challenging situations, they are prepared. “Crews can practice handling challenges, such as difficult weather conditions, equipment issues and in-flight emergencies – all from the safety of the ground,” stated Elliot. “It would typically be unlikely crews would be able to face so many of these challenges while training in an actual aircraft. For example, trainers can

create a demanding VR scene in the aircrew sim, involving wild weather, hard-to-find landing sites and obstacle avoidance. While in the flight simulator, pilots can rehearse extreme events that simply cannot be replicated in a live aircraft, such as engine failures and tail rotor failures. While some

VR allows for you to quickly change environments, for example switching from a hospital setting to an in-flight scenario of these challenges are unlikely to actually happen, experience in navigating them safely significantly strengthens our crews’ ability to respond, when they’re called on missions.” Riesen also noted the advantage VR affords of enabling a unique, safe training environment: “Our system enables crews to

Synthetic training using Reiser high-tech simulation systems AirMed&Rescue spoke to Dr Michael Mayrhofer, CEO of Norwegian Helicopter Training Centre (NCCH), about its use of Reiser’s advanced simulation software for helicopter crew training Digital interconnectivity between simulators NCCH in Sola operates a convertible full flight simulator (FFS) for Eurocopter H135 and H145 along with a convertible Flat Panel Trainer, which is mainly used for briefing and debriefing, but also for procedure training at type-rating level. Those simulators are interlinked, enabling effective debriefing of situations that took place in the FFS. A new feature is the remote-IOS, which allows the FFS to be operated from any location via a conventional web browser. At the moment, this is mainly used for instructor standardization. Training for multi-crew air rescue/air medical helicopter operators Efficient HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) operation requires excellent crew coordination. Each team member has specific roles at certain stages of the rescue procedure, so proper communication is essential to perform all tasks well. Therefore, all crewmembers are immersed with similar cues, as they would be in real situations. Along with the well-known features of an FFS, this simulator also has a medical crewmember (MCM) station in the aft cabin. They wear VR goggles, which provide a synthetic out-of-the-window view, so long as the

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MCM is looking outwards and switches to transparent mode, for all areas inside the cabin. This set up allows full crew coordination training between the pilot, technical and medical crew members. Affordability of VR training technology Affordability is one matter, training quality another. But reducing costs doesn’t necessarily mean a decrease in training quality. It all comes down to the training tasks you are using to develop certain competencies. Based on recommendations from the training industry (like NCCH), Reiser is planning to embrace the new ‘training objective to training tool’ model. Based on an analysis of training objectives, new and probably more cost-efficient training tools will become available. In that domain, VR is a technology that will revolutionize pilot training – current visual systems are adding more technology and weight to simulators, which VR will reduce dramatically. The idea is to offer a VR simulator solution and clearly communicate the potential training results it can offer. Future plans for development of VR FFS VR FFS are definitely of interest in some areas – with the trend of single-pilot cockpits, VR will be the most appropriate application. In urban air mobility and air taxis, most of which are designed for single-pilot operation, VR FFS will be important. From NCCH’s perspective, there is little point replacing the dome visual system with VR for multi-crew helicopter operation, as most of this training is for crew coordination.

Training technology

train at night and in difficult weather conditions at the limit of what is possible. Critical situations that cannot be trained in reality, such as possible incidents during helicopter hoist missions, can also be practiced in the simulator. This is done in a safe environment without any risk for the crew,” he told AirMed&Rescue. Flexible training Another important advantage of VR is the flexibility it affords, providing the ability to stop and start training as required, as well as replaying parts of procedures. This eliminates the stress and pressure from training, enabling trainees to really soak up what they are experiencing and have the capacity to take note of the finer details. “The ability to pause the VR sequence, replay it or slow it down provides the comfort of stress-free simulation and focus on minor details, which would otherwise be overlooked,” Tiba highlighted.

“Reviewing procedures while not being the one performing allows for the trainee to focus on details and processes without the stress and pressure that come with being in a real life or training situation.” Elliot agrees: “VR also allows trainers to stop and start scenarios as needed, as well as giving crews the opportunity to repeat the mission. In both of our simulators, the scenario can be recorded and played back, so the trainee can see where they excelled and where they may need to improve.” In addition, it is possible to quickly change between scenarios, as Tiba explained. “Depending on the scenario, VR also allows for you to quickly change environments, for example switching from a hospital setting to an in-flight scenario, which is something that is hard to achieve in a real-life training simulation.” Using VR, trainees can view scenarios and environments from different perspectives to really gain an accurate view of what’s

occurring. “We focus on different VR perspectives in our training strategy, which is a massive advantage as the procedures can be viewed from different angles – for example an overview from the top, a view from the operating/acting crewmember and a side-line view, e.g. from the point of view of an assistant. This allows for all aspects of the procedure to be thoroughly observed and trained,” Tiba told AirMed&Rescue. Given that VR is so immersive, it can closely mimic real life, providing accurate and realistic preparation, as Tiba explained: “It provides you with a first-person angle, which allows for trainees to act out the procedures as they would be performing them in a real-life scenario”. Riesen agrees: “VR has the great advantage of fully immersing the crew in the scene being trained. Whether in helicopter pilot training or practicing helicopter hoist operations in standard HEMS crew configuration,” he told AirMed&Rescue.

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“Our technology includes a pose tracking of the crew member to represent the trainee’s movements in the virtual world and a highly dynamic motion platform. With the entire system, we create a full-body immersion. The person therefore dives completely into the scenery, which significantly

we have yet to see more products coming out for the fixed wing providers and especially the secondary transport segments,” Tiba said. “We are looking forward to developing our own solutions and we’ll be sharing the products with our fellow providers. Generally speaking, I do support any

is potential to enhance training using VR, strengthening the ability of crewmembers to respond to different situations and honing their ability to adapt and think quickly. With accessible VR solutions on the horizon that are likely to become increasingly common, options are expanding and different training

increases the sustainability of the training. This is also the case in an operation performed close to the ground.”

innovation that enhances the training possibilities for air medical crews as there are many highly complex procedures and risks involved. So, I’m very excited to see what the future brings.” VR holds great potential for air medical crews, affording the opportunity for immersive and safe training and enabling trainees to be exposed to situations that are otherwise difficult to recreate. It also allows trainee crew members to rehearse and repeat scenarios, as well as review their efforts and apply feedback in order to improve. There

systems are being developed. In the future we are likely to see more VR solutions coming to the fore and being adopted by HEMS and SARS crews to optimise training. Developments are underway and the experts consulted by AirMed&Rescue are confident of the potential applications of VR in this sector. “We see tremendous potential of VR technology in the training of HEMS crew. This has persuaded Airbus, among others, to enter into a cooperation agreement with VRM-Switzerland to promote flight safety,” Riesen concluded.

Looking into the future of VR The use of VR in the air medical sphere is still in the early days, but it is clear that it holds huge potential. In the future, new training solutions and products will be developed and the full capability is likely to be realised. “While we have seen an increase of VR training opportunities for first responders and especially rotary wing-based programmes, 42

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A REVOLUTION IN AERIAL SIMULATION TRAINING Rear Admiral Jim Robb, President of the US National Training and Simulation Association, spoke to Mandy Langfield about how simulation technology has changed the way pilots train in different aircraft types, and why the move to the Metaverse is going to move the industry forward

As President of the National Training and Simulation Association (NTSA), what does your role involve? I lead a team that brings government, industry and academia together in support of development and fielding of cuttingedge training and simulation systems to our warfighter and first responders. NTSA hosts eight events a year that address key elements of the training and simulation community and lead up to the Interservice/ Industry, Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC), which is the largest training and simulation event in the world. (iitsec.org) How did your naval experience prepare you for the challenge of engaging national security markets with technology providers? Throughout my 34 years of service in the US Navy, I interacted with aviation 44

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technology providers extremely closely. I was part of the initial cadre flying the F-14 Tomcat, which had many challenges in its early years. In those times as well as today, aircrew have to interact closely with vendors to identify and solve anomalies that would occur on the ground and in flight. We also interacted with industry to assess threat systems and how our own aircraft would need to be modified. At TOPGUN, we spearheaded new real-world capabilities that would be essential to maintaining a strategic advantage. As a flag officer, I was in charge of identifying future national security challenges that would shape future requirements across all of aviation. In my current position, I represent a consortium of government, academic and industry entities that work together to define future training requirements and push for alignment of government and industry investment to bring timely and economical capabilities to the force.

As a fighter pilot, how did you see training technology change during your service? When I started flying the Tomcat, our training was not structured and there were very few systems that would allow you to review performance in the air. That all changed in the mid-70s, when the Cubic Corporation fielded the Air Combat Maneuvering Range (ACMR). This range tracked all the aircraft in flight with great accuracy by interacting with pods that were attached to the aircraft. This capability revolutionized aviation training by giving us detailed visualization of the flight maneuvers, weapons flyout simulations, and the ability to review the flights in great detail. Previously, all this information had to be ‘remembered’ by the pilots and you can imagine the different recollections and disagreements that would drive the debriefs. In the old days, whoever got to

Simulation

the chalkboard won the fight; ACMR brought facts to the table. This system also brought the ability for third party safety officials to monitor the fights. You have been in command of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, better known as TOPGUN – what were the simulation options available to you then, and what options are available to crews now? At TOPGUN, we used the instrumented ranges on most flights. We also had video recording of the radar scopes and gunsight to use in the debriefs. We had the ability to simulate enemy aircraft and tactics as well as the surface-to-air threats to the aircrews, but they weren’t

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flying against the real threat. Next generation simulations are coming in the form of Live, Virtual and Constructive systems that allow us to present simulated threats to the aircrews electronically from the ground. Tomorrow, with virtually unlimited computing power and data storage capabilities, we will be able to record detailed data twins of the entire ground, sea, air and space activity for a training event. This data base will revolutionize how we assess performance and improve training. It will also allow us to assess how we can merge multi-domain operations into a single picture. It costs a great deal for operators of HEMS and SAR services to buy the latest high-fidelity simulation software; are you seeing more options of open-source solutions on the market? There is a real revolution going on in air training through the use of small simulator ‘sleds’ that use virtual reality goggles to allow aircrews to practice procedures and flight maneuvers at a very low cost. The sleds are being used in military air

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training to prepare students for live flight but maybe more importantly, to allow them to come back and practice areas they might find challenging in their live training. The use of these simulators is reducing the time to train and has almost eliminated attrition in the program at great savings to the services. We are also engaging the large gaming companies to enter the military training space, which is fairly small compared to the commercial gaming industry. 48

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How much further do you think simulation companies can go in terms of providing ultra-realistic scenarios and environments in which pilots can practice? Simulators for large aircraft are so good that the first time an airline pilot actually flies an aircraft, there are passengers in the back. For tactical aircraft, simulators are being used to a much higher degree in training due to the inherent classification of the capabilities of the

We are also engaging the large gaming companies to enter the military training space aircraft. Today, you cannot fly a F-35 to its full capability in live airspace due to classification and range constraints. The simulators are also being netted in highly classified networks to allow tactics that

Simulation

involve the integration of many platforms to be accomplished and repeated. In many cases, these capabilities could not be trained to in the real world. What was the latest simulation training technology you saw on show at the recent I/ITSEC? There are two cutting-edge demonstrations at the most recent I/ ITSEC that I found very exciting. The first is the evolution of the family of augmented

reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) and extended reality (XR) systems that are being fielded. New systems include haptics, which are gloves that allow the aircrews to ‘feel’ the objects they pick up or actuate. Some systems are including smell, heat and motion to enhance realism and the visual in the goggles is becoming lifelike. The second important demonstration that I observed involved what is being called the beginnings of the ‘Metaverse’. This is the development of new networks

and data management systems that will allow the production of ‘Digital Twin’ environments that you will be able to enter as an immersive environment. Here, a simulated threat could be presented to the pilot in the aircraft or in a simulator to the point where he or she will be looking at what seems to be a real enemy aircraft in their helmet display. This is a generational leap in the use of simulation for training and one that will be extremely cost effective and save asset life.

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THE BIG Ken Saumure is an offshore line and medevac helicopter pilot in Canada, flying Sikorsky S-92s in some of the most adverse weather conditions imaginable – so how does he do it? The big picture A good friend of mine once asked me how I manage flying in ice and if we had an out if anything went wrong. He’s a highly experienced instrument flight rules (IFR) captain flying EMS in the US, and although he doesn’t know it, he’s already answered his own question. We all know that successful IFR requires significantly more knowledge, planning and risk management than flying visual flight rules (VFR) does. At some point, we’ve all lost our alternate while en route when the weather went below forecast. We know what to do and we know how to manage those risks in real time. If you’re an experienced IFR pilot, you probably would have thought about that before you 50

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even left the ground. The stakes are raised slightly when managing the risks of icing in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) and all the aspects of those risks can get very complex. When you fly IFR in helicopters, you’re typically under significant performance constraints from your customer or clients so you’d better have a strong understanding of what tools you need to get from point A to B (and back again) safely and effectively. When your helicopter is certified for flight in known icing conditions, you can bet your life that your customer has even higher expectations of getting the mission completed. Performance and limitations Before we can begin to discuss things like route and weather planning, we need to understand how the aircraft protects itself from ice accumulation and consider the limitations of those systems as well as the performance penalties paid while using them. My current steed is the S-92 and Sikorsky calls their system RIPS (Rotor

Icing Protection System). It provides protection against ice build-up through a combination of anti-ice and de-ice systems by electric heating elements for the main rotor, tail rotor, rotor head, engine inlets, windshield, etc. Some systems provide heat continuously while others, like the main rotor blades, are heated with timed (on/off) cycles depending on how much ice is being measured at the ice rate probes. The engine compressor vanes are heated by bleed air. Like all Transport Category-certified aircraft, these systems all have redundancy and isolation, but they are not without limitation. These limitations can change when you have a failure of a critical component such as the loss of an AC generator or its associated GCU. In addition, emergencies like one engine inoperative (OEI) events further limit rotor ice protection system (RIPS) capabilities and therefore overall aircraft performance when flying in icing conditions. It’s this understanding of system

Avionics/Pilot experience

CHILL knowledge that needs to be raised to the highest level possible so that you can foresee conclusions based on the failure of a RIPS component at the worst possible time, especially when your operations require some level of CAT A performance. For example, failure of the No 1 engine concludes with a completely different set of RIPS system limitations than that of a failure of the No 2 engine. This could have significant impact on completing a mission offshore, depending on which pilot (left seat or right) is expected to execute the landing. Even when everything is going right, using any one of these systems comes with a performance penalty. Each anti-ice/ de-ice system consumes heavy electrical loads and thus translates to greater fuel burn. We plan for 1,375lb/hr fuel burn as a baseline in the S-92 but we have fuel contingencies when it comes to flight planning when icing is either forecast or reported. Sikorsky iFly is a fantastic performance app that allows us to preview

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are forecast for the duration of our flight. When it comes to flight planning, it’s time to find the most appropriate cruise altitudes that maximize groundspeed (both directions) while minimizing the time spent in actual icing conditions. There will be times, however, when the weather gods truly hate you. I’ve flown more than my fair share of offshore flights where we took off in IMC, flew enroute entirely in IMC, shot the offshore approach twice (and missed twice), and flew back to base in IMC that required a precision

our take-off performance in icing conditions both all engine operating (AEO) and OEI to ensure we meet CAT A climb performance both on the runway and at the offshore installations. In a worst-case scenario, if we had severe icing in cloud at 500ft AGL on departure (with no tops in sight) and we had an engine failure after takeoff decision point (TDP), we need to know well ahead of time if we have the required climb performance with the RIPS system engaged. If we don’t have that performance, then all bets are off and we can push our pilot decision making straight up the food chain. Flight planning Once we completely understand our RIPS system limitations and factor in our performance penalties, we can now look at weather and flight planning. In Canada, we have some pretty good IFR flight planning products: the Graphic Area Forecast (GFA) charts show clouds and weather, and icing and turbulence. 52

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Together, these two graphical area forecasts give us the ‘big picture’ with future cloud cover, tops, ceilings, frontal activity, precipitation, freezing level, amount of icing and turbulence as well as a host of other good stuff. With prevailing westerlies off the coast of Newfoundland, we often see stronger winds above 3,000ft so a typical flight 200nm offshore would likely send us outbound at 5,000ft or 7,000ft and inbound at 2,000ft. Based on that knowledge, we can look at the GFA and see where the ceilings and tops

approach to land. Had we been in moderate or heavy icing the entire time, we would have had to consider not going in the first place. Again, all fine and dandy when everything is going well. What if you’ve planned your flight ad nauseum and halfway to your destination you get a master caution for a TR DEICE FAIL? Like we practice in the SIM time and again, systems knowledge along with actioning the specific emergency in the emergency check list (ECL) should lead

Avionics/Pilot experience

to a positive outcome. Like weather planning, we have pilot planning: it’s called sim training. Long before we venture off in actual icing conditions, we get to run the drills in the simulator. RIPS component or even full system failures are part of the standard barrage of initial and recurrent training scenarios. Decision making skills are also developed along with confidence building exercises to help you manage and mitigate risks associated with flying in icing, whether it be simulated or real.

The bottom line To answer my friend’s question, yes, we always have an out. If that means using the RIPS to keep ice off the aircraft, then so be it. The tools are there for us to use. If something goes wrong, we already have a plan to deal with a system failure or we can climb or descend as required to exit icing conditions if we’re dealing with worse than forecast weather. Our final out is the same one we all have – our choice to say no and wait it out for another day.

Quick change from SAR to medevac configuration It’s pretty quick to convert the S-92 from standard line to a medevac configuration. The standard configuration is 17 seats with an auxiliary fuel tank (about 950lb of extra fuel or 45 minutes). The seats are a quick removal and the auxiliary

tanks stay in place. Everything inside the cabin is quick-release (seats, bulkheads, etc). Engineers can make the change from standard to medevac in about 15 minutes. This includes all the paperwork required to change the effective mass and balance.

Ken Saumure is a Sikorsky S-92A offshore line and medevac pilot for the oil and gas industry in Newfoundland, Canada. He has previously worked as a HEMS pilot for ORNGE in Canada, during which time he flew an AW139.

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HOW GOOD IS YOUR FIRST-PASS SUCCESS RATE? Mandy Langfield spoke to Dr Timothy Lenz, MPH, EMT-P, about complex airway management in pre-hospital settings, and the gap between perception of skill and reality of ability when it comes to patient intubation Working in Wisconsin, Dr Lenz is Medical Director of Flight for Life, the critical care air medical transport program serving this upper mid-western US state. Typically, the medical

crew onboard the organization’s helicopters comprises of one flight nurse and one flight paramedic, but occasionally there are two nurses. And when it comes to the special skills each type of medic possesses, there are key differences in qualifications and practical applications. Intubating a patient who has 54

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been shot or seriously injured in a car accident is going to be difficult and time-sensitive, and Dr Lenz is adamant that everyone has to be able to provide the patients they serve with the care they need. “Intubation is the higheststake skill we have,” said Dr Lenz, “and we need to make sure the whole crew can do it.” Research carried out by Dr Lenz and his team has found that crews as a whole think they are better than they actually are when it comes to intubation. Their firstpass success rate might look good on the surface, but closer examination can reveal where there are gaps in skills when one compares nurses to paramedics. Dr Lenz points out that his research shows that video tends to be relied upon more by nurses, while paramedics tend to go direct. “They need to be proficient in both,” said Dr Lenz, “and break the mentality that one is better than the other. What I’d like to see,” he continued, “is an increased use of bougies, especially in austere environments like car accidents, as they can make a real difference to the outcome of the intubation.” “At first glance,” he observed, “we have noticed what appears to be higher first-pass success when a bougie is used. It is smaller than the endotracheal tube, and when used with video laryngoscopy, appears to be more easily passed into the trachea. This is from a bird’s eye view with no real data, but something I am looking into more.” Video is an imperfect tool Video laryngoscopy was undoubtedly a step forward in many ways for complex airway management in a prehospital setting, but it

can’t always be relied upon 100 per cent. Technology, after all, is an imperfect science a lot of the time. When training, Dr Lenz relies on CMAC (video intubation system) for his students and crews, which allows him to keep the screen to himself so they don’t always get the benefit of the video, but he can use it if it’s of benefit to the student. “I use the screen so I can see what the student or resident is seeing without looking over their shoulders,” commented Dr Lenz. “It gives them the added experience of direct laryngoscopy, and I can help guide them to a successful intubation from what I see on the screen. If they are having difficulties with direct intubation, I turn the screen so they can visualize it for themselves.” Is the tendency towards video or direct laryngoscopies something to do with a generational shift? “Not necessarily,” said Dr Lenz. He pointed out that air medical crews can often stay in the same job for a very long time, and become accustomed to doing things a certain way. There is a new generation of recruits, though, that wants to learn about all the different methods of performing a task, and this is crucial for improving outcomes and ensuring that any member of the team can perform a procedure when called upon. After all, many HEMS operations are run with two flight nurses and no paramedic, and those nurses need to make sure their skills are equal to the task at hand. Flight for Life runs airway labs for its crews, and runs a difficult airway course using a high-fidelity patient simulator. Not only this, but because of the organization’s partnerships with two nearby hospitals, crewmembers are actually able to go into the operating room and perform intubations on real-life patients. No simulator, though, can ever recreate the reality of a complex airway that has to be managed in a ditch at the side of the road. Oddly, Dr Lenz found that his intubation success rate was better at the side of the road

Video laryngoscopy

than it was in the emergency department (ED) – the 'controlled chaos' of the ED, as he called it, was not what he was used to. He elaborated: “I found this at the start of my training, the early part of residency. It was

particularly true in austere environments such as the typical scene calls to which HEMS units respond. “We have to lose the mindset that paramedics have to be the ones performing the intubations,” said Dr Lenz. Ways to improve Intubation is the highest-stake airway management, skill we have and we need to make particularly in complex patients, can be as simple sure the whole crew can do it as setting up a dashboard that keeps track of who is something I was not accustomed to. Now, I doing the intervention, and then making sure am very successful and a go-to colleague in that there is a fair and equal rotation among the ED when there are difficult intubations.” the crew, which allows everyone to keep their skills razor sharp. “I still do it in the ED Education key to success now,” he added. “Every so often, I’ll take over “Education in a HEMS setting,” said Dr Lenz, an intubation because I need to make sure I “differs for nurses and paramedics.” Airway am still proficient.” management training, specifically, tends to take a different focus. Flight paramedics tend Practice, practice, practice to do intubations, which can put nurses at Flight for Life’s mission statistics show that a disadvantage as they practice less, which around 30 per cent of calls are to scene – results in an erosion of basic skills in which the mostly car accidents – while the rest are crew had previously been proficient. This is inter-hospital transfers, usually for cardiac

patients. So actually, the majority of the time, the crew won’t be intubating a patient as they will already be intubated (if needed) for the transfer. “We normally do around 60 to 80 intubations a year, but actually in 2021, our crews only performed 30,” said Dr Lenz. “It is unknown as to why there were much fewer than normal, but this could definitely be related to Covid. I do not have evidence of this, but it could be related to patients being intubated prior to our transfer from the receiving facility, or other non-invasive measures being taken, such as OptiFlow, CPAP, or BiPAP.” But what it has demonstrated without a doubt is that the crews need education and practice on complex airway management. If they aren’t seeing the patients, they need to practice – either on a mannequin or in the OR. “We have to keep our skills fresh,” Dr Lenz concluded, “and airway management education is key to ensuring good outcomes in prehospital medicine and HEMS settings in particular.”

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LEARNING FROM Two years on, Australia continues to sift through the ashes of the bushfires in 2019-20 in a bid to ensure the lessons learnt from the most devastating fire season in history are not left forgotten. James Koens considers how the country has changed its approach to aerial firefighting in light of the tragedy Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth. The country experiences ferocious wildfires in summer when temperatures often exceed 40°C / 104°F. During the Black Summer fires that started in June 2019 and burned until the following May, more than 18 million hectares were reduced to ashes, 33 people perished as a direct result and 450 more died from the effects of smoke inhalation. The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements was announced in February 2020 and

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when presented to the Australian Parliament on 30 October 2020 it came with some 80 recommendations – from trialling aerial firefighting at night, to developing a ‘sovereign’ aerial firefighting capability. Since this time, Australia has seen significant growth in its aerial firefighting fleet with the addition of a permanent, more capable Australian based rotary- and fixed-wing fleet.

Between June 2019 and May 2020, bushfires reduced more than 18 million hectares to ashes Investment into aerial fire assets As a result of continuing improvements and implementation of these recommendations the New South Wales (NSW) State Government has pledged more than AUD$450 million.

This includes a $268.2 million funding package consisting of $17.2 million to operationalise two sovereign Black Hawk helicopters to replace existing aircraft, $5.2 million to increase remotely piloted aircraft capabilities, and $10.6 million to assist with the implementation of the new National Fire Danger Rating System. According to the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC), the national department responsible for providing a cooperative arrangement for the provision of aerial firefighting resources, there are currently approximately 150 aircraft contracted by the NAFC on behalf of state and territory governments, which is supplemented by additional state-owned and contracted aircraft. In total, there are more than 500 aircraft provided by over 150 operators available across the country for aerial firefighting. The start of the 2021 fire season saw the first ever sovereign Boeing 737 Fireliner™ Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT)

Aerial firefighting

BLACK SUMMER locally contracted to the Australian Federal Government in partnership with the NAFC and Coulson Aviation Australia. A converted B737-300,

There are more than 500 aircraft provided by over 150 operators available across Australia for aerial firefighting ‘Tanker 137’ (yet to be named locally via a naming competition) is no stranger to the Australian skyline, having operated in the country since 2018 and is capable of dropping 4,000 US gallons (15,200 litres) of water or retardant, up to a rate of 3,000 US gallons (11,300 litres) a second. At the time of writing, ‘Tanker 137’ is based out of Busselton in Western Australia supporting significant fire

activity and is available nationally as and when required. The season has also seen the introduction of two of the world’s largest firebombing helicopters, the Boeing CH-47D Chinook. Also operated by Coulson Aviation Australia, in partnership with NAFC, the Chinook is capable of carrying up to 3,000 US gallons (11,300 litres) of retardant or water and is a night fire-suppression and night vision goggle-capable aircraft. One will be based out of Victoria and the other in New South Wales. In addition to the 737 Fireliner™ and two CH-47D Chinooks, the NAFC has contracted five Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters fitted with Helitak FT4500 Black Hawk Fire Suppression Tanks (currently the only FAA-certified underbelly fire suppression tank for the Black Hawk) capable of carrying up to 1,060 US gallons (4,000 litres) of retardant or water with a 35-second snorkel re-fill time.

The Black Hawk, like the Fireliner™ and the Chinook, is no stranger to operating down under, however this is the first time they will be contracted for the entire season rather than on the usual ‘call when needed’ basis. Two Black Hawks are based out of Western Australia and operated by United Aero Helicopters, another two in South Australia operated by Aerotech, and the other in New South Wales by Touchdown Helicopters. Air Tractor’s role in combating wildfires Texas-based Air Tractor is a leading manufacturer of agricultural aircraft, which are also very effective for firefighting missions, such as spraying retardants in challenging terrains, making them popular dual role aircraft in fireprone Australia. Stephen Holding, the General Manager of Field Air, an Australian dealer and operator of the aircraft,

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says the Air Tractor is generally used on the continent for agricultural applications, like spreading fertilizer on large cropping areas, but this capability also makes it an ideal choice as a single-engine air tanker for firefighting. The Air Tractor AT-802 also has the distinction of using the most powerful 58

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variant of the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprop, the PT6A-67F, which has 1,700 shaft horsepower. Holding reveals that because the Air Tractor needs to carry a huge load, it has a high power-to-weight ratio. The aircraft, for example, has a maximum take-off weight of 16,000lb (7,257kg). “An AT-802 can carry

approximately 800 US gallons (3,000 litres) of fire retardant,” he adds. When retardant is dropped on vegetation, it can last for a couple of weeks. It dries on the herbage, forming a layer that retards the progress of a fire, says Holding, adding that retardant is more effective than foam concentrate or water gel, some of the other liquids that Air Tractors use to combat fires. Holding comments: “Air Tractors have two main firefighting roles. The first is fighting the fires directly on the frontline. The latter role is known as ‘retardant line-building’, where the Air Tractors work ahead of the fire to build up defensive lines and fire suppressants around strategic assets.” The Air Tractor has a computerized firedoor, allowing the pilot to select how much retardant to drop and how big an area to cover, an extremely important capability for aerial firefighting. Another advantage of an Air Tractor is its deployment speed and adaptability, Holding notes: “Compared to large air tankers, the smaller-sized Air Tractor can be deployed faster. Since it is originally an agricultural aircraft, Air Tractors can operate across various types of terrain, such as grass, field,

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gravel and fly from air strips and runways of around 2,600ft (800m) length, which makes it perfect for manoeuvring at the scene of a fire.” The largest model of Air Tractor is the AT-802, of which there are approximately 100 in Australia, and the variant designed for firefighting is the 802AF or 802F. The ‘F’ variant also includes an amphibious version; the AT-802F Fire Boss is fitted with Wipaire floats. There are 12 Fire Boss amphibious aircraft in Australia. Says Holding: “The AT-802’s wing tanks can hold up to a maximum of 390 US gallons (1,476 litres) of jet fuel and burns between 80–92 US gallons (300–350 litres) per hour depending on various factors like altitude and speed.” Holding asserts that due to its heritage as an agricultural aircraft, Air Tractor is designed to work in hot, dusty and tough environments; but the aircraft also needs a resilient engine to back it up, which is where Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PT6A-67AG and F engine comes into play. About half the AT-802s in Australia are fitted with the AG engine and the rest with the F, he says. “Many firefighting operators these days with the AG-equipped AT-802 have started to upgrade this engine to the PT6A-67F variant, which has more power and more load carrying capacity.” Jim Hirsch, President of Air Tractor, Inc., explained what makes Air Tractors so well suited to the unique challenges of operating in the Australian climate and geography: “Air Tractor airplanes are up for the challenge posed by Australia’s rugged terrain and climate. The AT-802 routinely flies from unimproved airstrips at locales around the world. Its PT6A-67AG turboprop engine performs quite well in hot, high density altitude conditions.” And when it comes to being part of the aerial firefighting team, the speed of reload and attack means it can be first on scene. Hirsch explained: “The AT-802F reloads in 5 minutes and ferries at 175 kts. It is often the first and only airplane sent to earlystage fires. On bigger fires, the AT-802F joins in with other aerial assets, making ‘surgical’ drops, attacking hot spots, closing gaps in retardant lines, or pretreating fuels beyond the main fire. Its versatility is always in high demand.” While Air Tractors play an important and unique role, it is only one tool of the 60

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fire agencies, and other aircraft such as helicopters and large aerial tankers are also needed. Holding also says that aerial firefighters are there to help the teams fighting the fires on the ground. “We are part of an overall strategy and aerial firefighting is about aiding the resources on the ground,” he reports. Conair’s VLAT stationed year-round This year, the Canadian Conair Group’s Dash 8-400AT airtanker (Q400AT) will be staying in Australia all year round as a result of a new, shared four-year contract between two Australian states,

Queensland and Victoria. The contract period is long enough for the airtanker to remain in the country for the duration of the contract, taking an important step towards creating a sovereign aerial firefighting fleet. The two states took advantage of their staggered fire seasons allowing them to offer a 168-day minimum standby per season. The longer contract period enables the Dash 8-400AT to remain in the country, with annual maintenance occurring in Australia during the offseason, in partnership with Conair’s Australian AOC Field Air. Longer term, multi-year

contracts for airtankers are new to Australia but have been a common model in both Canada and the US since the 1960s. Prior to this contract, the country relied on shared large airtanker resources from North America, which itself has been seeing extended fire seasons with wildfires now occurring as late as December in the US (in Montana, Texas and Colorado). At the end of the bushfire season, the two Conair Avro RJ85 airtankers return to Canada for maintenance in British Columbia before deploying to work the North American fire season.

Fire activity lower but still threatening Compared to previous years the 2021-2 fire season has been relatively low. At the time of writing, however, there are currently nine fires considered ‘uncontained and uncontrolled’ in Western Australia due to a period of above average summer temperatures and low rainfall. Western Australia’s recently contracted VLAT and Type 1 heavy waterbombing aircraft are assisting with efforts to reduce fire activity in the region with favorable conditions forecasted ahead. The NSW Rural Fire Service 2021-2 Bush Fire Season Outlook indicated that the summer of 2020-1 saw above to very-much-

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above average rainfall in a two-month period from January last year, resulting in only 13 days of severe or above fire danger for the 2020-1 season. The predicted fire season outlook indicates that due to the unseasonably high rainfall, there is an expectation that higher grass fuel loads will follow through spring. However, above average rainfall is expected for the coming months consistent with the current La Niña enhancing spring rainfall in northern and eastern Australia, indicating reduced bushfire activity ahead.

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Respect the weather conditions T

he No 1 rule of aeromedical helicopter operations is that all crew go home at the end of the shift. In the first of four features, Aeromedical Pilot Mike Biasatti recalls some of his stickier moments in the right-hand seat during 20 years flying helicopter EMS operations in the US Every six months for almost 20 years it’s been a condition of my continuing employment as an aeromedical pilot for one of the largest aeromedical operators in the US that I take a Part 135 Check Ride to evaluate my knowledge of various aspects of aircraft operations. This includes weather, flight rules, aeromedical factors, aircraft specific questions, performance, ATC procedures and anything else contained in the FAA Practical Test Standards (PTS). In addition to a verbal examination, a flight test is required to determine my ability to successfully perform the required maneuvers at a commercial pilot standard. Every examination always began with the same edict – the success or failure of my check ride and resultant continued employment was dependent on my ability to demonstrate mastery of the aircraft with the successful outcome of each task performed never seriously in doubt. I often joked (in my internal voice) where the line between 'in doubt' and 'seriously in doubt' was, but the PTS was clear in the expectation and so was I. As I approach and reflect on my twentieth year of flying helicopter EMS operations in the US, I can recall a few flights where my compliance with that PTS edict was called 64

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into question. In any operation there is always room for improvement and in my opinion the sign of a true professional is a commitment to never stop learning and improving. With that in mind, over the next four issues I’d like to share some of my 'oh sh%t' moments, where the successful outcome of a maneuver came into doubt, what I learned, and what I would do – and now do – differently. All risk assessment values taken into account with these conditions allow me to follow the number-one rule of aeromedical helicopter operations – all crew go home at the end of the shift. Patient transfer The call came in around 02:00hrs to fly about 60 nautical miles west to a remote hospital and pick up a patient needing rapid transfer to hospital with an orthopedic surgeon. This would be our third flight of the night. A quick look at the radar showed a fair collection of thunderstorms about 20 nautical miles south of our flight path, slowly moving south and away from our course out and back. The wind at our base and the destination hospital was particularly strong at the surface (20 knots with gusts to 30 knots), but nothing we hadn’t routinely flown in before. This flight took place

some years ago when weather information was not what it is today. The most thorough source of weather intelligence at that time was a call to the Flight Service Station on a landline phone (no smart phones back then), but I had the radar depiction and a collection of METAR reports (Meteorological Aerodrome Reports) to guide my decision to accept the flight. No portion of the route was going to require an instrument flight rules (IFR) leg, so in hindsight I may have allowed that to influence my decision to not seek out a more complete weather briefing – first mistake. Weather emergency That night, the crew I had (flight nurse and flight medic) were very experienced, having flown EMS for many years. As we arrived at the helicopter, the medic commented about the wind but didn’t express being uncomfortable with departing on the flight. After I completed all preflight and run-up checks, we lifted off and headed west. Immediately the aircraft was getting tossed around. We began our climb up to cruise altitude, which took unusually long with a continuous series of up and downdrafts. The medical crew received their patient report after we’d been airborne for about

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10 minutes. Their patient had a spinal injury and the discussion ensued as to whether the flight conditions were appropriate for that particular person, given the strong winds and moderate turbulence we were constantly experiencing. Abort the flight Aircraft control was considerably challenging, attempting to maintain course and altitude. Travelling at about 2,000ft AGL unaided (it would be another 10 years before NVGs became available to the civilian market) over unlit (albeit flat) terrain, the medical crew made the decision to abort the flight. As I started to turn the aircraft to return to base, the helicopter began to roll on its side instead of bank and start to turn. Right then the aircraft experienced a downdraft, the significance of which was lost on me visually, but the severity of which I was made immediately aware of aurally as the TCAS (Terrain Collision Awareness System) began screaming in my ear – ‘WARNING TERRAIN, WARNING TERRAIN, WARNING TERRAIN’. From our 2,000ft AGL cruising altitude, in what felt like an instant, this audible warning indicated we were now within 300ft of the ground. I raised the collective, applying full power in an attempt to climb. Cyclic inputs to turn continued to result in the aircraft leaning more. At this point I, too, felt like a passenger. The nurse who was riding up-front asked in a panicked tone what was happening and in my very best calm tone I said to give me a minute, asking him to change a com radio frequency for me. Essentially I was trying to distract him while I determined the best course of action. I think (and this was a long time ago) my exact words were 'give me a second while I regain my composure'. Feeling as if continued attempts to turn the aircraft would result in the same previously experienced rolling moments, and knowing that an uncontrolled airport was about 10 nautical miles straight ahead, I continued on and advised we’d be landing there to reassess everything. 66

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White-knuckle touchdown As we neared the airport and performed the approach, I landed on the runway. The paramedic who was riding in the back asked

further and widen that separation to 30 or even 40 miles. In the case of a multi-cell thunderstorm cluster, perhaps require even greater separation. In hindsight, my

why we had landed on the runway, to which I responded ‘give me a few minutes’; I had a severe case of white-knuckle syndrome. After a few minutes, we hovered to the ramp and shut down. I contacted our dispatch and advised them we’d be on the ground until the sun came up in about three hours’ time The medic slept on the flight board, the nurse on the ramp next to the helicopter and I just paced for the entire three hours. Finally, as the sun rose we lifted to return to base in what was a relatively uneventful leg. As I entered the base after landing, the local news was on and the meteorologist was referencing last night’s wind. All I remember hearing were the words ‘anomaly’ and ‘wind shear’.

glance at the radar before accepting the flight was probably part arrogance, as well as not having been exposed to such severe weather in past flying. Later, I looked at the radar images from the time when I accepted the flight and what I dismissed as a single thunderstorm moving away from my course was in fact a collection of air mass thunderstorms that covered several counties. Advisory Circular 00-24C refers to it as a Thunderstorm Cluster (Multi Cell). Surface weather is helpful in assessing safety and suitability of a flight request, but I now keep in mind that we aren’t spending a majority of our flight-time at the surface. A further investigation of things like Winds Aloft, CWA (Centre Weather Advisory), SIGMETS (Significant Meteorological Information), Convective SIGMETS, and any PIREPS (Pilot Reports) could have yielded a greater degree of understanding of the weather risks associated with the convective weather depicted on the radar. Even today, I find that after accepting a VFR flight and departing based on METAR reports, flight visibility and reported surface visibility can vary significantly.

Investigate thunderstorm activity In the many years that have passed since that evening, I’ve discussed the flight with various training captains, instructor pilots and more experienced pilots to learn from what happened and be better equipped to recognize the factors that probably caused the conditions we experienced. The hope is I’ll avoid that situation again and handle it better if I ever find myself flying in those conditions in the future. Collectively, the things I’d do differently would include taking the time to further investigate any thunderstorm activity within 20-plus nautical miles, but even go one step

Electronic Flight Bag Today, the abundance of weather tools available in the cockpit while on the ground is amazing. Most aeromedical operators in

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the US as part of an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) issue the pilots with iPads with a full complement of weather resources. None is more impressive than ForeFlight,

an amazing compilation of the most complete, intuitive weather software that they never stop improving upon. For young pilots, the challenge isn’t having real-time access to weather information now, it’s committing to putting in the time to learn how to effectively use these amazing tools and properly interpret what they are telling you. Learning takes time, and to consider oneself a professional in any field one must never stop learning. Number-one rule satisfied As for the course of action I took of landing and waiting for sunrise to re-evaluate – well, at the time I was the junior pilot on staff and my actions were previously unheard of at the program I was working, so as you can imagine there was some mild hazing, along with a newly earned nickname, but all good natured. Even as I look back after all these years, I’m confident in the decision to park the aircraft until the sun came up. The old saying rings true today as it did back then: 'I’d rather be on the ground wishing I were flying, than flying wishing I were on the ground'. That night I was certainly the latter wishing to be the former. When all was said and done, I complied with rule number one – my crew and I went home after our shift, just a little later than normal.

HAZARDS TO AVIATION All thunderstorms have conditions that are a hazard to aviation. These hazards occur in numerous combinations. While not every thunderstorm contains all hazards, it is not possible to visually determine which hazards a thunderstorm contains. Thunderstorm Cluster (Multi Cell) Thunderstorms often develop in clusters with numerous cells. These can cover large areas. Individual cells within the cluster may move in one direction while the whole system moves in another. Turbulence Potentially hazardous turbulence is present in all thunderstorms, and a severe thunderstorm can destroy an aircraft. Strongest turbulence within the cloud occurs between updrafts and downdrafts. Outside the cloud, shear turbulence is encountered several thousand feet above and up to 20 miles laterally from a severe storm.

Additionally, clear air turbulence may be encountered 20 or more miles from the anvil cloud edge. Windshear and microburst The downward moving column of air in a typical thunderstorm is large. The resultant outflow may produce wind shear, and in some cases the most severe type of wind shear, the microburst. A microburst is a small-scale, intense downdraft that when reaching the surface, spreads outward in all directions from the downdraft center. Virga, streaks of precipitation falling from a thunderstorm cloud but not reaching the ground, may precede a microburst. You can read more about the hazards associated with gust fronts, wind shear, and microbursts in the current edition of AC 00-54, Pilot Windshear Guide. (Source: US Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Advisory Circular 00-24 B & C)

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Mandy Langfield spoke to the executive team of Air Rescue Group to find out more about the company’s operations, coming out of Covid stronger, and why good planning, a solid recruitment strategy and strong medical leadership are key to ongoing success

Richard Lineveldt, Chief Operating Officer You’ve got two aircraft based in locations all over the world, including Johannesburg, South Africa, Singapore, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea and Dubai. Where would you say your headquarters are, or where your operations are coordinated from? Why did you choose this destination? Air Rescue’s headquarters are in Dubai and our offices are located at the Airport Free Zone, which is co-located with our global Mission Control Centre. The decision to establish HQ here was made with a view to take advantage of Dubai’s strategic location, modern infrastructure, and stable, business-friendly governance. It works well in terms of time-zones, based on where we operate and is, during normal times, a very convenient business travel hub. Do you own the aircraft you operate? How long has it taken you to build a fleet of such a size, and what prompted the choice in variety of aircraft? Our operating model is asset-light and our preference is to procure the aircraft supply through long-term provider agreements with trusted aviation partners. In so doing, we are able to 68

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Profile: Air Rescue Group

Air medical services

tailor our offerings based on each region’s unique demands in terms of aircraft capacity and capability. We are first and foremost a medical service provider and our medical crew are highly trained and capable of delivering advanced life support and intensive care both in the field and in the air ambulance setting, supported by state-of-the-art medical equipment. The fleet composition we have today effectively addresses the current needs of our clients, but we are continually working on reshaping the delivery models in order to anticipate future demand and shifts in activity levels. You say on your website that you are the ‘only licensed provider of air ambulance services in Dubai’. Could you explain in more detail what this statement means – licensed by whom and to do what? Do you have a monopoly on business out of Dubai? We are proud to be licensed by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) as a healthcare provider. The local regulations are extremely stringent and Dubai is world-renowned as a center of medical excellence. This endorsement and the strong relationship we have with DHA reaffirms the standards we set and strive to exceed on each mission. We obviously gain some benefit from being based in Dubai and our local network and infrastructure are deployed to best serve our clients, but we do not take this for granted and most certainly don’t consider ourselves to have a monopoly. Accreditation can be a vital symbol of adherence to quality standards. Are you finding that more customers are seeking accredited providers these days? It varies from client to client, and depends on the credentials of the provider in question. We have been in business for more than 20 years and our clients have come to appreciate the quality standards we have in place – we are certified ISO 9001:2015. We have extensive processes in place to manage quality and safety, covering both aviation and medical components as well as including independent audits, resulting in the accreditations we maintain with the European Aero-Medical Institute (EURAMI) and local air ambulance regulators.

How has Covid-19 affected Air Rescue Group’s operations? As most colleagues in the industry can attest, the start of the pandemic saw a significant reduction in evacuations due to restrictions that were put in place, virtually overnight. The first few months saw us finding our feet in a totally new environment with a myriad of new conditions and restrictions, which ranged from protocols for transportation of infected patients to securing destinations that would accept these evacuees. Once the landscape became clearer, we hit our stride and have been exceptionally busy ever since. We are especially satisfied with the way in which we have been able to support longstanding clients with very challenging mission requests. Although flights have had to be longer and more complicated (which translates to lengthier activation times and increased costs), we have always been able to find workable solutions. I am especially proud of the resilience shown by our Medical and Operations teams throughout the pandemic. They have overcome an immense amount of adversity to provide life-saving care to our clients and embodied our values throughout. As our activity now starts to rebalance back to business-as-usual work, we are in a great position to restart work on our longer-term growth agenda.

Dr Fraser Lamond, Group Medical Director Could you give us a brief inight into your background in the aeromedical industry? It seems like only yesterday my trauma unit pager went off telling me to get to the helicopter for my first HEMS mission as a flight doctor; it was a real thrill! We did six missions during that shift. This was back in the late 90s on the Johannesburg

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Hospital Flight for Life HEMS – the only 24-hour HEMS in Africa. Some seven years later, and with many hundreds of memorable missions under my belt, I moved more into the fixedwing aeromedical sector and was working as a flight doctor for an assistance company when I was approached to set up and run what was then the beginnings of Air Rescue in Africa. We commissioned the first fully dedicated jet air ambulance in June 2000. The rest is history. By 2007, we were the busiest jet air ambulance operation in Africa and had achieved Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport

It’s all about real-time open communication pathways and processes agreed in advance to meet the clients’ requirements for information, both logistical and medical Systems (CAMTS) accreditation. We were the first air ambulance operation outside the US and Canada to achieve CAMTS, and EURAMI followed soon after. By 2015, we were running three air ambulance jets and performing upwards of 30 missions a month. What is recruitment of medical crew like for you – is it always a challenge to fill requirements, or are you spoilt for choice? In South Africa, we are very fortunate to have medical staff who gain enormous practical experience in all types of emergency paediatric, adult and obstetric care. It’s the mix of a very developed healthcare system in a developing environment. The additional training available to those with an interest in emergency care, transport or retrieval medicine is freely available, so skills are easy to find – in my view. The challenge is the turnover of medical staff who, of course, do not want to spend their lives 70

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constantly in the back of an aircraft. Good planning, recruitment strategy and strong medical leadership are essential to stay ahead of the game. Do you think that wing-to-wing missions are necessary in international medical repatriation services? Is there anything that can or should be done to enhance patient safety during such missions? I do believe there is a need, simply because of logistics and the fact air ambulance companies cannot perform every mission themselves. It can potentially pose a risk if the cases are not properly medically triaged for such missions and the risk, if any, should be mitigated by using reliable air ambulance partners with recognized accreditation or standards of practice. We, for example, have done wing-to-wing repatriation missions, but using our own air ambulance based in Dubai to meet up with our air ambulance based in Johannesburg (JHB) to allow for a seamless uninterrupted transfer to South Africa.

When it comes to working with international medical assistance providers, what is the most important aspect of maintaining a good working relationship under time-sensitive, stressful and costly mission parameters? It’s all about real-time open

communication pathways and processes agreed in advance to meet the clients’ requirements for information, both logistical and medical. Direct relations with the client stakeholders – for example, medical director to medical director – in any challenging situation is essential. Using tools like flight tracking to help clients follow the flights in real time themselves are also helpful. What’s the most challenging mission you’ve ever undertaken? For me, it’s always the emotional cases that can lead to clinical dilemma. I can recall flying a tourist who was involved in an aircraft accident in Kenya, and I was tasked to bring him to South Africa for specialist burn unit care. He had 90 partial and full thickness burns with some inhalation injury. He was 48 hours after the accident, but his calculated mortality was still over 100 per cent. I knew he would end up on a ventilator and his care locally had not been adequate. He was fully conscious so I explained to him what his situation was and that I would prefer to be conservative and not ventilate him for the flight and manage his pain as the priority. His wife was flying from Europe and would meet us in JHB. He agreed as he knew he may not speak with his wife again. We spoke a lot on the four-hour flight back to JHB; his wife was waiting in the ER on our arrival. They spoke; he died seven days later.

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Human external cargo ops

Jeff Yarnold, VP Operations at Boost Human External Cargo Systems Inc., spoke to Mandy Langfield about the challenges the company faces when it seeks aviation certification for its products In 2012, when Transport Canada grounded existing HEC equipment, Jeff, along with Derek Thomas, co-founded Boost Human External Cargo (HEC) Systems Inc. Working with pilots and engineers, the team developed a Dual Hook HEC System for the Eurocopter AS350/355, Bell 206L, 407, 205/212/412, and McDonnell Douglas MD 500. Their systems are fully approved by Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA), the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is near completion. “When we started the company, we envisioned that what we would be doing

was tweaking existing products,” said Jeff, “but the reality is that the amount of engineering needed for each aircraft/ system combination is immense, and really, it needs to be done from scratch for each one.” The investment in engineering each part specifically means that the company is building up a substantial database for each kind of helicopter for which it makes hooks and Personnel Carrying Device Systems (PCDS), and this can be used to enhance projects in the future. “It’s all about continuous improvement and development.” And it was a bit of a baptism of fire as well. The first aircraft the Boost team worked on were the AS350 and AS355.

Finding a Transport Canada (TC) design approval representative (DAR) that understood HEC operations was the first challenge, and they had to find a DAR who was experienced in this world. The first

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Human external cargo ops

engineer on the project estimated it would take between three and six months, and cost around CA$50,000. Perhaps it’s not a great shock to learn that this was – to put it generously – an underestimate. Three years, and almost a million dollars later, the company received its Supplemental Type Certificate from TC. The certification process is a series of known unknowns – in the beginning, the engineers couldn’t be accurate in their predictions. Now, though, the company’s experience and databank mean it is possible to predict with more accuracy how long it will take to certify a product for use in an aircraft. “You can almost say that we’ve developed a recipe for approvals,” said Jeff. “The majority go straight through to TC and are then validated by the FAA and EASA thanks to bilateral agreements between the organizations.” China – for obvious reasons – is less straightforward. Boost works with a local company in China that facilitates the approvals process with the

CAAC, and although it isn’t a cheap way of doing it, it is worth the investment. Obtaining certification for products at home, though, isn’t always easy. TC is run on a regional basis, and while one region might certify a product, another won’t. “There was one occasion,” recalls Jeff, “where TC said to us: ‘no more belly band operations for HEC’. OK, great, we thought, everyone will now have to move to dual hook ops. And then the Prairie Northern region of TC approved a new belly band for HEC operations. It was confusing.” The aforementioned bilateral agreements can sometimes be a cause for delays and confusion as well, despite the aim of simplifying the process. What one agency will approve without too many

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questions could cause a lot of issues for another. And because the process involves the information going from regulator to regulator, if the first one hasn’t asked a particular question of the manufacturer that the second one wants the answer to, then the delays between questions being asked and the information being obtained from the OEM can be substantial. “It’s certainly not a simple process,” said Jeff, “and one that can result in hefty delays for the operators buying these systems.” He cites the case of the Austrian Police Force buying Airbus Helicopters H125s with Boost’s dual hook system. Airbus delivered two such systems three years ago. Approval from EASA is still pending. “The system is used around the world, and has flown thousands of hours,” Jeff continued, “but EASA still has questions to which they need answers.” Resilience and determination are the only things keeping the process afloat at this point! Boost bought its own AS350 B2 and AS350 BA airframe and has performed innumerable tests on it to give evidence to EASA that its dual hook system works and does so safely: “EASA needs data, so we collect it.” But what does it take to develop a product for certification? Well, really, it depends on why you’re developing it, explained Jeff. Most products Boost makes are for the rescue sector, but not all. Its latest one is actually for the utility sector – namely, power line workers. The harnesses and lines the company makes for rescue operators is now far outstripped by the utility companies. Boost’s next-generation power lines are enhancing the safety of the workers due to their solid urethane coating, which is see-through. The coating means they are insulated, while the transparency means that the lines can still be checked for quality. Following rigorous and thorough electrical testing for energized HEC operations, they have been approved by TC and the FAA. The whole process took three years to get the initial approval on the Bell 212/412 and now they are continually being added to all new dual hook systems as they become available. This allows them to be used on almost any helicopter performing HEC operations in North America and around the world. 76

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WHEN LIFE IS ON THE LINE Boost Human External Cargo Systems Inc. // 1-888-851-4014 // info@boostsystems.ca // BOOSTSYSTEMS.CA

Bell Textron – a new era of development and customization Mandy Langfield met Jonathan Castorena, Commercial Business Development Manager for Bell, to talk about the company’s latest partnerships and additions to its suite of helicopters A walk around the latest Bell 429 in law enforcement configuration with Jonathan Castorena was a lesson in and of itself. No detail escaped his attention – from the carefully designed window in the cockpit that gives a better view for the pilot during hoist missions, to the all-glass Garmin cockpit, the side-opening doors that allow for easy and safe search and rescue, hoist and patient transfer missions, and the tail rotor authority that ensures greater stability for the operators using the 78

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aircraft for high-altitude rescue missions. It is Jonathan’s engineering background that gives him this perspective. Having worked at Bell for 16 years, starting as a tool manufacturer before moving onto rotor blade design and in various other departments of the company, he is able to share his insights into the aircraft from both narrow and wide perspectives. Multi-mission Bell 429 The 429, of course, is not new – not really. Launched in 2009 to much fanfare, the aircraft has placed itself firmly in the market as one of the most-desired helicopters for operators seeking multi-mission capability. “Our customer feedback was simply intrinsic in the design of the aircraft,” said

Helicopter modification

Castorena, “and it continues to be. When the development team pointed out that the rear cargo door opening system created delays in patient loading and safety concerns for the crews, they were modified to open in a different way to ensure it was adapted to be the best possible door for the crews using it. The end user is key to ongoing product development.” And the end users in the law enforcement world – of which there are so many more these days, pointed out Castorena – are insistent that multimission capability is key. “Governments around the world are focused on security,” he explained. “And this means that more police forces are being empowered to invest in aerial assets to assist them in their daily tasks, whether that is reconnaissance, search and rescue,

disaster relief, HEMS or even aerial firefighting support.” The 429 has this in spades – it can be converted from tactical/troop transport configuration to HEMS mission capable in less than 15 minutes, in either a oneor two-stretcher layout. The electrooptical/infra-red (EO/IR) camera system, certification for human external cargo (HEC) and dual cargo hook, fast rope and rapelling systems all together mean that no matter what the aircraft is called upon to do, it can be customised to meet the needs of the user. For aerial law enforcement crews – specifically, tactical flight officers (TFO) – the mission management system is invaluable. And what Bell customers wanted was a system that could be seamlessly integrated into the aircraft.

Hence the latest partnership with security systems and mission equipment company ESG, which has provided a customerspecific system that is not limited to one specific type of hardware or software. It has a touch-based graphical user interface and gives the TFO all the information they need, without risking over stimulation. Such a partnership is but one example of where Bell is working with suppliers to make sure that its products are meeting the needs of its customers. A recent deal with training provider CAE allows for collaboration on training and simulation. “These partnerships are key to success,” Castorena told AirMed&Rescue. “Our product needs suppliers that are market leaders, and multi-mission platforms specifically require partners that are

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excelling in their field to provide unique benefits to the end users, whether it is ESG, CAE, Pratt & Whitney, Safran or Garmin.” UAV – unmanned aerial vehicle Another area of collaboration comes in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) – or drone – sector, and what is vital to recognise from a law enforcement point of view, said Castorena, is that UAVs and helicopters are complementary, not mutually exclusive. “Regarding the future of drones and helicopters in the law enforcement/public security sector, they would not replace one another but would be complementary and work in unison. We have several customers asking about this capability, and it will be a technology that should be developed with integrators such as ESG. Bell is also developing its own autonomous drone technology with Bell APT.” Going green There has been a lot of talk recently about sustainability, and the responsibility of the aviation sector to limit emissions and improve their green credentials. Another partnership Bell has been working on involves the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel, but it’s not just in fuel savings that manufacturers can bolster their efforts to limit their carbon footprint. “Operating costs have to be a consideration,” Castorena pointed out. “The maintenance process has to be made simpler, with fewer parts, more recyclable consumables and the like.” The newest aircraft from Bell that is going to be coming into its own in this regard is the 525 – carbon emissions from the helicopter are going to be as low as they can go, and new levels of efficiency mean lower operating costs and better fuel consumption. Expanding operations We almost got through the conversation without mentioning the C word, but I couldn’t do it. I had to ask about Covid. What business hasn’t felt the effect of Covid-19 in some way or another? “While in some areas we saw stagnation, in others we experienced significant growth,” said Castorena. “The corporate and VIP market increased for us, as VIPs took alternative methods of transport to 80

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Helicopter modification

get themselves and their families to where they wanted to be.” Companies that expanded their scope of operations during Covid are the ones that are going to see long-term success. Bell is looking ahead to the future and considering where there is a need for increasing helicopter support – while HEMS is now well-established in Europe, recent extreme weather has pushed forward the need for aerial assets in other ways. Disaster relief, aerial law enforcement, search and rescue and aerial firefighting are all growth sectors for helicopter manufacturers, and having the right tool that can perform all these missions seamlessly is key. The 429 has been, and will continue to be, the aircraft of choice for many operators, and with the 525 coming online in due course, it’s clear to see Bell’s vision for the future – multi-mission capabilities in a fast, quiet helicopter that can be customised to fit the end user’s needs, no matter what.

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Coming together to enhance safety AirMed&Rescue spoke to Bruce Webb, Director of Aviation Education and Community Outreach for Airbus Helicopters Inc., who believes that the future of the industry depends upon its ability to work together towards a common safety goal For how long did you hold your position as Chief Pilot at Airbus Helicopters, and what was the most exciting part of that role? I was Chief Pilot for 16 years from July 2000 to July 2016. For me, the most exciting and gratifying part of being the Chief Pilot was the opportunity to help shape the complexion of our department. We experienced tremendous growth within Flight Operations during those years. We were able to successfully hire and retain many fantastic pilots. Each one continues to build upon our legacy through their strength of character, proactive approach to safety, and fundamental aviation expertise. 82

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Why did you decide to leave the Chief Pilot position at Airbus and move into an education and outreach position? I feel that change is necessary in almost every aspect of life. My participation in the expansion of our department and influence upon our culture was complete. And while the decision was not easy, I am convinced that my choice to step down was the correct decision for Bruce Webb – and for Airbus Helicopters Inc! Are you involved in the Vertical Aviation Safety Team initiative? How important is industry collaboration to you? Can progress be made without it? Airbus is convinced that the future of our industry depends upon our ability to work together towards a common safety goal. Airbus is indeed proud to be participating in the Vertical Aviation Safety Team (VAST) and I, personally, look forward to the important work we’ll be doing. Working groups like this one and others that combine industry voices are a key part of Airbus Helicopters’ Aviation

Safety Ambition and Roadmap, and many of the activities I’m involved in – including these groups, my safety outreach and my videos – all aim to support this roadmap and help ensure the right tools are available for all our customers, no matter their operations or the size of their fleet. Actually, did you know that most helicopter operators across the world have a fleet of fewer than five aircraft? And while safety is very important to all of us, many small operators simply lack the resources to proactively focus upon safety initiatives. VAST is one initiative designed to address this reality by becoming a central repository of information, ideas, and community voice.

Safety

Automation in the cockpit is a key part of enhancing the safety of helicopter operations, but are we in danger of information overload for pilots? Where does the balance lie in avionics enhancing safety without it being detrimental to the pilot’s mental capacity to concentrate on all the information they are being given? With each passing year, helicopters are becoming more technologically advanced and capable. Manufacturers are aware that

information overload is a potential issue that must be considered as we develop new aircraft and systems. This was a key factor when Airbus Helicopters developed Helionix avionics, which helps reduce the pilot workload significantly in the way the system operates and in the multi-function display screens. I believe that great effort has been taken to ensure technological advancements do not come with an unreasonable consumption of a pilot’s cognitive resources, and I’m certainly proud of the development path and certification approach that Airbus has taken in this area. However, as aviation professionals, we must accept our individual responsibilities regarding safety; we must prepare

ourselves to operate these advanced aircraft. The knowledge and competency required to take advantage of these new technologies requires pilots and technicians to receive the right training. This is why initial and recurrent training is so very important for all associated personnel. Bird strikes are an ever-present danger to helicopter pilots; what kind of education is on offer to pilots to help them minimize the risk of bird-strike, and what are aircraft manufacturers doing to minimize the damage this can cause to aircraft? Bird strikes are certainly a threat that everyone in the industry takes seriously. Regulators, educators and manufacturers have all developed training materials to raise awareness about the dangers associated with bird activity. As we learn more about bird behaviour, we are able to recommend flightpath adjustments that can minimize exposure to bird strikes. Bird-detecting radar and aircraft lighting are also being examined as new technologies to help pilots avoid birds, and for birds to avoid aircraft. We have also

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seen advancements in windscreen materials and shapes that are more resilient to impact and also structural designs, which may mitigate the potential damage should a strike occur on other parts of the aircraft.

difficult to measure, so my suggestion is that we should simply work to make tomorrow safer than today.

areas of focus with regard to crash survivability.

Changing the culture and the conversation around helicopter safety is a key issue, especially in the US. Financial pressures have historically meant that pilots accepted flights where they perhaps shouldn’t have done, and accidents have occurred. Do you think that the culture of safety is changing for the better, generally? I believe the mere fact that we are discussing ‘safety culture’ is an indication that we are moving in the right direction! Culture does not change overnight. Incrementally we are making

The issue of crash survivability and crashresistant fuel tank installations onboard new and old aircraft is also one that continues to affect the helicopter industry. Do you think that enough is being done by regulators in this regard to ensure the helicopters currently being flown are as safe as they can possibly be for the occupants? Regulators, manufacturers and operators are all concerned with safety. As I’ve said before, it takes everyone in the industry working towards the same commitment to safety for it to be successful. Of course, the challenge is to completely understand where an aircraft needs improvement, then to conceive, design and build a component and/or system to

Inadvertent Entry Into Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IIMC) and Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) are not stopping, despite efforts to minimize their occurrence. What more can the industry do to enhance the safety of helicopter operations during inclement weather or in a degraded visual environment? This unfortunate reality remains a concern for everyone in the helicopter industry. Airbus has chosen a very proactive approach when it comes to IIMC – at the Airbus Helicopters North America training facility in Texas, a dedicated IIMC course has been offered for more than five years, and substantial outreach is done with our

improvements, but we must continually work to maintain this positive momentum, and I believe it’s up to the entire industry not only to say that safety is a priority, but also to act on it. This is achieved in many different ways and is something that requires commitments from the pilots themselves, the operators, the manufacturers, regulators, insurance companies, etc. We are all in this together when it comes to ensuring that we promote safety in every aspect of our business and our industry. We know that an acceptable/effective safety culture is

positively affect this need in a manner that’s acceptable to regulators, operators, and endusers, without adding any negative effects to other aspects of the aircraft (increasing cost to a point that wouldn’t be feasible for an operator, adding too much weight that would alter mission profiles, etc). Crash Resistant Fuel Systems (CRFS) has been one topic representative of this challenge, and something that Airbus has been working extremely hard on to implement the right changes in the right manner. Energy attenuating seats/structures and improved interior materials are other main

operators and externally to raise awareness on this topic and encourage more focus on something that can be prevented. Airbus also is proud to have participated in the education video and training course entitled ‘56 Seconds to Live’ from Helicopter Association International (HAI). A lot of the content I put out in my Aviation Education outreach is about IIMC and CFIT, and a lot of Airbus’s outreach focuses on practical methods to reduce the chance of encountering an IIMC situation at the onset. For example, using something as simple as the PAVE checklist (Pilot/Aircraft/

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Environment/External pressure) is an excellent place to begin: • First, evaluate yourself (pilot). How are you feeling? Have you had sufficient rest? When did you last eat a nutritious meal? • What about the aircraft? How is it equipped – VFR, IFR? Does the aircraft have any inoperative equipment and, if so, how may it impact your flight/mission? Are you familiar with its various systems? • What is the environment like: day or night? Unfamiliar and hostile, or well-known and hospitable? The actual weather: VMC, marginal VMC, IMC, hard IMC, cold, hot, high DA, high winds? • And finally, external pressure(s). Are you in a time crunch? Do you feel as though you’ll be letting people down if you don’t fly? Obviously, the list for each one of these can be very long, but devising a logical method to systematically consider all factors would be a huge step in the right direction. A Flight Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT) is an established way to begin. We must break the accident chain far before 86

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reaching the point of needing to ‘Land and Live’. Land and live must be the absolute last resort – not our back-up plan! Accident statistics clearly indicate that the opportunity to avoid IIMC/UIMC/CFIT accidents exists far before the pilot straps into the aircraft. This is where we must improve. We must make our decisionmaking process more robust. We must slow down, make informed decisions – and simultaneously keep the five hazardous attitudes, especially impulsivity (do something quickly), invulnerability (it won’t happen to me), and machismo (I can do it) under control!

If you had to choose one item (piece of equipment) onboard a helicopter that you think has made the biggest difference to safety of operations over the past few years, what would it be? It’s a bit difficult to isolate one item. Just as accidents do not typically result from one causal factor, it’s difficult to point to one single piece of equipment that has been most beneficial as well. Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning System (H-TAWS) has provided better situational awareness to pilots in respect to terrain and obstacles. The Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system has improved engine performance and reliability. Night Vision Goggles (NVG) have improved our ability to see at night. And finally, Automatic Flight Control Systems (AFCS) for small VFR aircraft are becoming increasingly common. Each one of these items has the potential to enhance aviation safety. However, no single piece of technology will replace solid judgment. Each piece of equipment is simply another tool available to the pilot. We must understand the benefits and limitations of each piece of technology available to us. Once we understand the technology, we must apply our knowledge, skill, and judgement to use the item/device/system correctly.

MARKETPLACE

The definitive directory of suppliers and associations for the global airborne special missions sector. To get listed, contact sales@airmedandrescue.com

Aircraft Manufacturers

Erickson Inc

Artemis

Erickson is a leading aerospace manufacturer and global provider of aviation services that operates, maintains and manufactures utility aircraft to safely transport and place people and cargo around the world.

ARTEMIS, an award winning Mobile Phone Detection and Location Sensor designed specifically for airborne SAR/Disaster Relief. A result of 35 years of innovative leadingedge cellular design expertise. Offering a radical and effective alternative to traditional airborne sensors, including automatic cueing of EO/IR. Available in several SWaP configurations for manned/unmanned platforms.

Contact: 5550 S.W. Macadam Avenue, Suite 200, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA

Contact: Smith Myers Omega Centre, Stratton Business Park, Biggleswade, Beds, SG18 8QB, UK

Phone: 001-503-505-5800 E-mail: sales@ericksoninc.com ericksoninc.com

Astronics

Leonardo Helicopters Leonardo, through its Helicopter Division, cover all the main helicopter weight categories, from the 1.8 tons single-engine to the 16 tons three-engine. Leonardo Helicopters is also committed to the study and introduction into the market of innovative technologies and platforms, including the AW609TiltRotor and the remotely controlled/optionally piloted rotorcraft. A great emphasis to customer satisfaction is placed by Leonardo, able to offer a great supportability level for both maintenance and training.

Avionics

Contact: Via Giovanni Agusta, 520 21017 Cascina Costa di, Samarate Italy

Phone: 0039-0331-229111 www.leonardocompany.com

Astronics offers the world’s most widely deployed enhanced vision systems for airframe OEMs and general aviation pilots. Used in search and rescue, firefighting, police, construction, and other critical missions, our EVS units are improving visibility and safety every day on fixed-wing and rotorcraft worldwide.

Contact: 130 Commerce Way, East Aurora, NY 14052, USA

Aero Dynamix Inc. Aero Dynamix, Inc. is an industry leader and principle innovator of “INTEGRATED” Night Vision Goggle (NVG) compatible solutions for both commercial and military platforms. Focused on quality, service and customer satisfaction, ADI specializes in fully integrated NVIS lighting systems designed to meet and exceed NVG compatibility requirements, while optimizing nighttime and daylight readability performance. Product offerings include Edge Lit Panels (ELPs), NVIS panel overlays, NVIS instrument modifications and repairs for a wide range of avionics manufacturers. Contact: 3227 W. Euless Blvd. Euless, TX 76040 US

Phone: 001-817-571-0729 E-mail: sales@aerodynamix.com www.aerodynamix.com

AeroLEDs AeroLEDs™ state-of-the-art LED landing, taxi, and navigational lighting products are designed to replace aircraft legacy lighting systems. They consume less power, produce substantially more light output and last significantly longer, rated for 30,000+ hours MTBF. AeroLEDs serves every spectrum of the worldwide aviation market for safer and more reliable flying.

Contact: 8475 W Elisa St Boise, ID 83709 USA

Phone: 001-(208)-850-3294 E-mail: Sales@AeroLEDs.com www.AeroLEDs.com

Phone: 0044-1767-601144 E-mail: Info@smithmyers.com www.artemis.smithmyers.com

Phone: 001-716-805-1599 E-mail: salesMV@astronics.com astronics.com

Avinet Avinet is the company behind Air Maestro, an integrated operational and safety cloud-based software that provides instant access to vital information directly applicable to HEMS crew via an intuitive, easy-to-use interface. The software allows for sensitive/critical data to be centralised and accessed securely worldwide, at any time. Contact: Level 3, 124 South Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia

Phone: 0061-8-100-1166 E-mail: sales@avinet.com.au www.avinet.com.au

Axnes At Axnes we realize the importance of clear communication between the crew and their platform and the home base. Axnes develops and supplies advanced and highly durable wireless intercom solutions for aircraft, ground vehicles or maritime platforms. Axnes wireless intercom systems are widely known for their exceptional performance in extreme conditions on missions anywhere on the planet. Contact: 1155 Kelly Johnson Blvd. Suite 111 Colorado Springs, Co 80920 US

Phone: 001-719-277-6671 E-mail: bjg@axnes.com www.axnes.com

Eagle Copters Ltd. is a privately owned business in Canada with over 40 years of experience in the helicopter industry. Its manufacturing division specializes in the design, certification and production of digital audio systems - Eagle Audio. It is the most capable system available that serves different industries including law enforcement, utilities, air med & rescue. Eagle has subsidiaries in USA, Chile and Australia.

Contact: 823 McTavish Road NE, Calgary Alberta, T2E 7G9 Canada

Medical Interiors

Eagle Copters Ltd.

Phone: 001-800-564-6469 www.eaglecopters.com

Air Ambulance Technology With an installation time of under 30 minutes for a mid sized helicopter, Air Ambulance Technology is probably the only company world-wide to offer it‘s customers the possiblity of flying multi-missions on the same day. Each bespoke medical interior is designed with the customer, for the customer. Air Ambulance Technology, superior aircraft interiors designed to help you save lives.

Contact: Lamprechtshausener Str. 65 / Building A7, 5282 Ranshofen, Austria

The SA Group

Med-Pac

As a world leader in the avionics industry we hold several approvals: EASA Part145/Part-21J/Part21-G/Part-147/FAA Part-145/TCCA Part-145 + a variety of local maintenance approvals. We are OEM approved service center for most leading avionics manufacturers. We offer sales, design, engineering and certification, installations and MRO of a complete range of avionics equipment and systems, incl.: Surveillance Systems, SAR Applications, Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS), SATCOM & Data Transfer Solutions and much more. Contact: Scandinavian Avionics A/S – HQ of The SA Group, Stratusvej 9, Billund Airport, 7190 Billund, Denmark

Over the past 16 years, Med-Pac, Inc. has developed an outstanding reputation for medical manufacturing, specifically for Aeromedical unit installations. Our continuing goal is to provide medical staff with all of the equipment they need to keep saving lives every single day.

Phone: 0045-7950-8000 E-mail: SA@scanav.com www.scanav.com

Since 1991, Spectrum Aeromed has designed and developed air ambulance medical interiors for hospital programs, multi-mission charters and private operators around the world, as well as custom VIP emergency medical interior suites for executive aircraft and heads of state. Spectrum Aeromed’s experienced and professional personnel provide customized solutions.

Contact: 9720 Landry Blvd., Spring, TX 77379 USA

Phone: 001-281-801-6813 E-mail: mike.sileo@flyboys.com www.pivotcase.com

Aircraft Sales

EFB Solutions

Contact: Hector International Airport Hangar #9, 1815 23rd Avenue North, Fargo, ND 58102 USA

Phone: 0064-9-222-0016 E-mail: comms@spidertracks.com www.spidertracks.com

PIVOT has the only truly universal EFB mount and case system in aviation, and allows pilots to go from a leg strap to a window mount with one hand. Designed from a pilot’s perspective, PIVOT products enhance EFB function and user experience, while increasing device protection and ﬂexibility.

www.med-pac.net

Spectrum Aeromed

Trusted by thousands of aircraft owners and operators around the world, Spidertracks is the leading provider of satellite-based real-time flight following, fleet management and communication solutions, specifically for aviators. We’re breaking down the barriers of traditional flight data recording by digitising the analogue, and unlocking significant value for you to better operate, analyse, and optimise your business processes and operations.

Pivot

Phone: 001-218-238-5100 E-mail: rbraaten@med-pac.net

Contact: Lake Park, MN 56554 USA

Spidertracks

Contact: 205/150 Karangahape Road, Auckland 1010 New Zealand

Phone: 0043-7722-85051-0 E-mail: office@airambulancetechnology.com www.airambulancetechnology.com

Phone: 001-701-638-3593 E-mail: Aeromed@Spectrum-Aeromed.com www.spectrum-aeromed.com

Savback Savback is a trusted, international and independent vendor of new and pre-owned helicopters. These core offerings are underpinned by expert helicopter buying & selling services and consultancy. Since 1990 we have sold over 900 helicopters, providing many satisfied private, public and commercial clients. We have the expertize and experience to provide helicopters configured to deliver total capability to meet the task and operational challenges of all parapublic missions. Savback can also assist with selling parapublic mission-configured helicopters and both long- & short-term leasing solutions. Contact: Savback Helicopters, 612 75 Hällestad, Sweden

Phone: +46 (0) 706 365 135 E-mail: sales@savback.com savback.com

Our advanced Goodrich rescue hoists and cargo winches help save lives during disaster relief efforts and rescue missions around the world. As the only producer of both traditional level wind and more advanced translating drum cable management systems, we offer a variety of solutions for operations in high-demand, unpredictable or extreme environment conditions. We also innovate in dual-hoist systems, increasing readiness for search-andrescue teams. Contact: 2727 E. Imperial Hwy, Brea, CA 92821, USA

NAL Research® leads the industry in providing the latest cutting-edge Iridium® satellite communication and tracking capabilities, products, and services. For over 20 years, NAL Research has been delivering innovative, military-grade, global SATCOM & Assured-PNT solutions that are trusted by government and enterprise customers around the world.

Contact: 11100 Endeavor Ct, Suite 300, Manassas, VA 20109, USA

Phone: 001-714-984-1461 E-mail: gputashoistwinch@utas. utc.com www.goodrichhoistandwinch.com

Lifesaving Systems Corp.

LSC manufactures the equipment helicopter and maritime rescue teams use to save lives in some of the harshest environments imaginable. From rescue hooks to personnel harnesses, titanium ladders to rescue litters, we make the gear rescuers need to do their jobs and to do them as safely as possible.

Contact: 220 Elsberry Road, Apollo Beach, FL, 33572, USA

Phone: 001-813-645-2748 E-mail: products@lifesavingsystems. com www.lifesavingsystems.com

Lite Flite ApS Lite Flite offers a package solution of helicopter rescue equipment for Search and Rescue (SAR) units in more than 40 countries. In addition to our broad standard helicopter rescue assortment, we offer customized solutions to our many loyal customers. Our products are designed to be mixed and matched together.

Contact: Lufthavnsvej 8 6580 vamdrup, Denmark

Phone: 00-45-7558-3737 E-mail: info@lite-flite.aero www.lite-flite.aero

Petzl Solutions For over 40 years, Petzl has developed innovative tools and techniques used by those who work and play in the vertical world. Today, Petzl is a world leader in rope access, work-atheight and rescue equipment and techniques. For more information, visit www.petzl.com.

Contact: 2929 Decker Lake Drive, Salt Lake City, UT, 84119, USA

Phone: 001-801-926-1500 E-mail: info@petzlsolutions.com www.petzl.com

Training and Simulation

SAR Equipment

NAL Research

Collins Aerospace

Phone: 001-703-392-1136 E-mail: Sales@nalresearch.com www.nalresearch.com

ADAC HEMS Academy GmbH SIMply train as you fly @ ADAC HEMS Academy - an internationally known provider of state-of-the-art Full Flight Simulator training for helicopter pilots on EC135, EC145 & H145. Operators from all over the word value the professional service and personal touch of the Academy.

Contact: Richthofenstrasse 142 53757 Germany

Phone: 0049-2241-932190 E-mail: info@hems-academy.de www.hems-academy.de

AEROTEAM Training Solutions We provide turn-key training solutions for operators and maintenance organizations. Including Aviation Consultancy & Training, Technical Training, Operational Training, Aviation Management Support, Gamification & Training Tools, Instructor Standardization & Training and Competency Control. All our training courses complies with current legislation and regulations from EASA, FAA, ICAO, IATA incl. IOSA and EMAR. AEROTEAM Training Solutions is part of The SA Group. Contact: AEROTEAM Training Solutions, Stratusvej 9, Billund Airport, 7190 Billund, Denmark

Phone: 0045-7950-8000 E-mail: info@aeroteam.dk www.aeroteam.dk

Bluedrop Training & Simulation Inc (BTSI) Bluedrop designs and develops advanced training solutions from procedure-based courseware through to immersive simulation for crew-based mission operations. Specializing in high-fidelity helicopter rear crew simulators for training complex tasks such as hoisting and sling load management, Bluedrop provides the ‘full flight’ training device equivalent for rear crew operators. Contact: 36 Solutions Dr suite 300, Halifax, NS B3S 1N2 Canada

Phone: 001-902-454-1694 E-mail: barbariepalmer@bluedrop.com www.bluedropts.com

NCCH AS Norwegian Competence Centre Helicopter

FlightBridgeED

NCCH is known as an outstanding operator for any kind of helicopter crew training. Together with the partnering ATO RotorSky, we offer highest training standards for H135 and H145 operators. Training programs are based on OEM recommendations as laid out in the OSD for the specific helicopter type. All courses are approved by the relevant CAA Austro Control and therewith also by EASA.

Established in 2012, FlightBridgeED is the #1 provider of pre-hospital, critical care, and emergency medicine education for healthcare professionals of all types. FlightBridgeED is the industry leader in advanced certification test preparation and critical care continuing education. FlightBridgeED is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Life Link III.

Phone: 001-800-991-3160 E-mail: service@flightbridgeed.com www.flightbridgeed.com

HeliOperations HeliOperations has provided SAR training and contract aircrew to international civilian and military clients for over 16 years. Unrivalled SAR knowledge, expertise and experience is combined with our modern facilities at the former Portland Coastguard Helicopter Base supported with VR technology, aircraft simulator and modern classrooms.

Contact: The HeliPort, Osprey Quay, Portland, Dorset, DT5 1BL, UK

Phone: 0044-1305-701702 E-mail: info@helioperations.co.uk helioperations.co

Immediate Medicine Action, Inc. (“IA MED”) is a disabled veteran-owned small business that provides cutting-edge specialty medical training, ranging from pre-hospital emergency medicine, in- hospital emergency or critical care medicine, aeromedical critical care, austere remote & tactical medicine, conference management, and program & content accreditation. Our proprietary system has been continuously developed and refined since 2011, using a comprehensive data-driven approach. Phone: 001-844-464-2633 E-mail: support@iamed.us training.iamed.us

Monash University, Department of Paramedicine Monash University, through its Department of Paramedicine, designs and delivers undergraduate and postgraduate programs and vocational courses to students currently working in or planning employment in ambulance and community-based emergency health settings.

Contact: Department of Paramedicine, Monash University Building H, Level 2, Peninsula Campus, 47-49 Moorooduc Hwy, Frankston VIC 3199, Australia

Phone: 0047-515-88858 E-mail: info@ncch.aero www.ncch.aero

CleanSpace Respirators CleanSpace Technology, established in 2009 by a world-class medical device engineering team with a vision to make respiratory protection wearable and easy to use. CleanSpace respirators are lightweight and while they provide all the protection of a PAPR, they are free from belts, battery packs and hoses. CleanSpace respirators are AS/NZS 1716, CE & NIOSH Approved

Contact: Unit 5, 39 Herbert Street, St. Leonards NSW 2065 Australia

Phone: 00612-8436-4000 Email: sales@cleanspacetechnology.com www.cleanspacetechnology.com

Draeger Medical UK Ltd

IA MED

Contact: 555W 5th Street FL35 Los Angeles, CA, 90013 USA

Contact: Utsolaarmen 14, N-4055 Sola, Norway

Medical Equipment

Contact: 996 Wilkinson Trace Suite A4, Bowling Green, KY 42103, USA

Phone: 0061-3-9904-4407 E-mail: ilinda.ross@monash.edu www.monash.edu

“Technology for Life” is the guiding philosophy. Dräger offers its customers anaesthesia workstations, medical ventilation, patient monitoring as well as neonatal care for premature babies and newborns. Whether in the operating room, in intensive care or emergency response services, Dräger products protect, support and save lives.

Contact: The Willows, Mark Road, Hemel Hempstead,Hertfordshire HP2 7BW UK

Phone: 0044-(0)-1442-213-542 www.draeger.com

EpiGuard AS EpiGuard is a Norwegian company that manufactures high-end medical equipment. Our first product is the EpiShuttle, a single-patient isolation and transport system, designed to provide maximum patient safety and comfort while allowing critical care and treatment to be performed.

Contact: Oslo Science Park, Gaustadalléen 21 0349 Oslo Norway

Phone: 0047-934-22325 E-mailer: info@epiguard.com epiguard.com

WEINMANN Emergency Medical Technology GmbH + Co. KG

Inovytec Medical Solutions Ltd. Inovytec addresses the critical moments of care, from the first minutes after a medical event to patient transfers and stabilization in hospitals. Our goal is to strengthen the healthcare continuum by providing cutting-edge, multi-functional respiratory and cardiac medical solutions to healthcare providers for use in every environment.

Phone: 00972-9656-485 E-mailer: Info@inovytec.com inovytec.com

LifePort For over 30 years LifePort has developed and manufactured industry leading medical interiors for Fixed and Rotor wing aircraft. Our product teams design and manufacture products to fulfill our customers’ unique mission requirements.

Contact: 1610 Heritage Street, Woodland, WA 98674, USA

Phone: 001-360-225-1212 E-mailer: solutions@LifePort.com www.lifeport.com

Peli BioThermal Pharmaceutical companies and other organisations looking for the highest quality temperature controlled packaging are switching to Peli BioThermal. Our innovative, patented technologies and consultative services ensure quality and high performance across the product range. Our network of cold chain experts provides our customers with consistent packaging and logistics experiences globally.

Contact: Stanbridge Buildings, Celsius House, Stanbridge Rd, Leighton Buzzard LU7 4QQ, UK

Phone: 0044-1525-243770 E-mailer: info@pelibiothermal.com www.pelibiothermal.com

Schiller AG SCHILLER is a world-leading manufacturer & supplier of devices for cardiopulmonary diagnostics, emergency care, defibrillation and patient monitoring as well as software solutions for the medical industry. Innovations in the field of Emergency Care & Resuscitation make SCHILLER’s user-friendly, compact and lightweight resuscitation and monitoring devices invaluable in all rescue situations. Contact: Altgasse 68 CH-6341 Baar Switzerland

Phone: 0041-41-766-4242 E-mailer: sales@schiller.ch www.schiller.ch

Phone: 0049-(0)40-881896-120 E-mailer: CustomerService@weinmann-emt.de

Contact: Frohbösestr. 12 22525 Hamburg, Germany

MRO

Contact: 5 Hatidhar Raanana 4366507 Israel

WEINMANN Emergency has been developing life-saving devices for emergency medical services for more than 45 years. We offer a range of emergency medical technology for emergency helicopters and airplanes for patient transport. Our air ambulance equipment meets the requirements concerning relevant standards regarding vibration, shock, and electromagnetic compatibility.

www.weinmann-emergency.com

Eagle Copters Ltd.

Eagle Copters Ltd. is a privately owned and operated business in Canada with over 40 years of experience in the helicopter industry. Eagle has a well-earned reputation for taking a highly personalized approach to providing solutions in fleet management, sales/lease, product development - Eagle Audio, as well as, being an MRO provider for major OEM platforms. Eagle has subsidiaries in USA, Chile and Australia. Contact: 823 McTavish Road NE, Calgary, Alberta, T2E 7G9, Canada

Phone: 001-800-564-6469 www.eaglecopters.com

Ramco Systems Corporation

Ramco Aviation, Aerospace & Defense is trusted by 24,000+ users to manage 4,000+ aircraft globally. With 80+ Aviation organizations onboard, Ramco is the solution of choice for top heli-operators, leading defense companies, space launch vehicles, UAS/Drones, eVTOL and multiple MROs around the world.

Contact: 100 Overlook Center, Suite 2008, 2nd Floor, Princeton, NJ 08540 USA

E-mail: contact@ramco.com www.ramco.com

Robertson Fuel Systems

Crashworthy and Crash Resistant, ballistically tolerant and self-sealing auxiliary and primary fuel systems for rotary-and fixed-wing aircraft.

Contact: 800 West Carver Road Suite 101, Tempe, AZ 85284, USA

Phone: 001-480-337-7050 E-mail: chip.lunn@robbietanks.com www.robertsonfuelsystems.com

Since the founding 42 years ago, avionics maintenance, repair and overhaul has been key part of our business. With workshops in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, India and Malaysia, we offer a broad line of avionics maintenance services, including: equipment repair and overhaul, EASA, FAA and TCCA triple release capability, equipment rental and exchange and 24 hour worldwide AOG support. Based on EASA-, FAA- and TCCA Part 145 and a variety of several local maintenance approvals, we support more than 16.000 avionics part numbers. Phone: 0045-7950-8000 E-mail: SA@scanav.com www.scanav.com

Swiss AviationSoftware Ltd. AMOS is a comprehensive, fully-integrated software package that successfully manages the maintenance, engineering and logistics requirements of modern airlines and MRO providers by fulfilling demanding airworthiness standards. Swiss-AS has succeeded in offering the market a system that meets the fast changing demands of a highly dynamic industry and has attracted almost 200 customers worldwide. Phone: 0041-61-582-7294 E-mail: marketing@swiss-as.com

Consultant

Contact: P.O. Box 4123 Allschwil Switzerland

www.swiss-as.com

Aerossurance Aerossurance provide specialist expertise for civil and military customers who need to contract safe, reliable and value for money aviation services (including SAR, air ambulance, firefighting and other special missions) or acquire aircraft. Our customers include government agencies, blue chip energy companies and NGOs. We support the full life-cycle from establishing requirements and tendering through to independent in-service assurance, review and advice. Contact: 3 Airyhillock Manor, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, AB51 0JS Scotland, UK

Phone: 0044-1224-660157 E-mail: enquiries@aerossurance.com www.aerossurance.com

VyClimb

CarteNav With over 500 customer installations in over 40 countries, CarteNav is a leader of C4ISR Mission Software. The Canadian based team has built its reputation on achieving operator capabilities that extend far beyond the status quo. CarteNav’s flagship products, AIMSISR and AIMS-C4, create a complete mission data lifecycle that exceeds today’s diverse operational requirements

Contact: 1959 Upper Water Street, Suite 1700, Purdy’s Tower 1, Halifax, NS, Canada B3J 3N2

Phone: 001-902-446-4988 E-mail: team@cartenav.com www.cartenav.com

European Air Ambulance European Air Ambulance (EAA), brand of Luxembourg Air Ambulance, one of the largest specialised air ambulance service providers in Europe, offering worldwide air ambulance repatriation with own specialised medical team and outstanding end-to-end patient care.

Contact: Luxembourg Airport, B.P. 24, L-5201 Sandweiler, Luxembourg

Phone: +352 26 26 00 Fax: +352 26 26 01 E-mail: alert@air-ambulance.com www.air-ambulance.com

Latitude Air Ambulance Latitude takes pride in offering best in class service in Medical Evacuations, Critical and Noncritical Repatriations, Neonatal and Pediatric Transfers, Commercial Escort Logistics and Solution Services, Case Management and Bed Finding Services, and Organ Transfers.

Contact: John C. Munro/Hamilton International Airport, 9300 Airport Rd. Mount Hope. Ontario, L0R IW0, Canada

Phone: +1 289 426 1133 Fax: +1 289 426 1132 E-mail: 24.7@latitude2009.com www.latitude2009.com

AMREF Flying Doctors

VyClimb \ˈvē ˈwī ˈklīm\ is a consulting and advisory solution for aviation operations. Specializing in air medical operations and aviation safety, we provide a range of personalized services including organizational assessment and enhancement, Safety Management System (SMS) implementation, staff and leadership training, mentoring, coaching, and due diligence support.

Contact: Colorado, USA

Air Ambulance

Contact: Scandinavian Avionics A/S – HQ of The SA Group, Stratusvej 9, Billund Airport, 7190 Billund, Denmark

ISR Mission sortware

The SA Group

Phone: 001-303-253-2009 E-mail: info@vyclimb.com www.VyClimb.com

AMREF Flying Doctors is the leading provider of fixed – wing air ambulance services in Africa. We have been in the aeromedical transport industry for more than 60 years – operating from Wilson Airport in Nairobi. Our fully owned fleet of aircraft ranging from short field to long-range jet aircraft is available to evacuate patients from remote bush airstrips as well as to repatriate patients by jet air ambulance to other continents. Contact: Wilson Airport, LangataRoad, PO Box 18617, Nairobi, Kenya

Phone: 00254-20 6000 090 E-mail: emergency@flydoc.org www.flydoc.org

Industry Events & Associations

AeroMed Australasia For over 35 years the Aeromedical Society of Australasia has provided an industry voice, offering a forum for development and change in the aeromedical fixed and rotary sector across Australia and New Zealand. Our annual Conference brings local and international partners and professionals together to share and learn through inspirational speakers, oral and poster presentations, forums/panel discussions and workshops, informal and formal networking opportunities and engagement with leading equipment and training exhibitors. Contact: Locked Bag 1001 Georges Hall NSW 2198 Australia

Date: 30 Aug - 1 Sep 2022

Phone: 0061-2-9633-8720 E-mail: secretary@aeromedsocaustralasia.org www.aeromedsocaustralasia.org

European Rotors The VTOL show and safety conference is the one and only European event where the entire rotorcraft industry meets and grows its business.

Contact: Neue Messe 1, 88046 Friedrichshafen Germany

AirMed 2022 World Congress AirMed World Congress is the leading air medical transport conference that takes place every three years. The conference brings together global experts to exchange ideas and shape the future of emergency services. The 2022 Conference will provide an empowering platform to connect with colleagues and industry professionals and explore vital aspects of this important theme together.

Contact: Salzburg, Austria

Date: 28 - 30 June 2022

www.airmed2022.eu

Looking for your next aircraft, vendor, mentor, job, or professional development or employment opportunity? You’ll find them all in Dallas at HAI HELI-EXPO 2022! Endless networking and 100s of education courses with 18,000 industry professionals and 700 exhibitors. Contact: Dallas, Texas USA

Phone: 001-703-836-8732 E-mail: info@aams.org aams.org/events/amtc/

APSCON continues to set the standard for excellence in the field of public safety aviation. Filled with education and training, APSA will again offer some of the best conference courses and classes in our industry, presented by the experts from our industry. Date: 25 - 30 Jul 2022

Date: 7 - 10 Mar 2022

Phone: 001-703-683-4646 E-mail: rotor@rotor.org www.rotor.org/Home/HELI-EXPO

The IAFCCP is the largest independent paramedic association in the world. Its focus is the professional paramedic, and its purpose is to serve as advocates to the profession on an international basis.

Contact: 4835 Riveredge Cove, Snellville, GA 30039, USA

Phone: 001-301-631-2406 https://publicsafetyaviation.org/events

Phone: 001-770-979-6372 www.iafccp.org

NBAA-BACE

APSCON

Contact: Reno, NV, USA

www.europeanrotors.eu

IAFCCP

The Air Medical Transport Conference (AMTC) offers 130+ education sessions covering topics in a variety of disciplines including safety, core clinical, specialty clinical, management, aviation, research, and communications

Date: 24 – 26 Oct 2022

E-mail: datenschutz@messe-fn.de

HAI Heli-Expo

AMTC

Contact: Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Date: 8 – 10 Nov 2022

Join over 23,000 industry professionals for the most important three days of business aviation. Ranked as one of the largest trade shows in the United States, NBAA-BACE will bring together current and prospective aircraft owners, manufacturers and customers into one place

Contact: Orlando, Florida, USA

Date: 18 – 20 Oct 2022

Phone: 001-202-783-9000 https://nbaa.org/events/2021-nbaabusiness-aviation-convention-exhibitionnbaa-bace/

THE LEADING SHOW FOR GENERAL AVIATION April 27 – 30, 2022 Friedrichshafen | Germany

#weareGA #aerofriedrichshafen

EDNY: N 47 40.3

E 009 30.7

www.aero-expo.com www.airmedandrescue.com

FROM LEGACY TO LEGENDARY CELEBRATING 50 YEARS

COME VISIT US AT BOOTH #8634 AT HAI HELI-EXPO

1971

2021

To learn more about Erickson’s history and milestones, visit:

ERICKSONINC.COM/ABOUT/50TH-ANNIVERSARY 96

AIRMED&RESCUE