Medical Helicopter Requirements?

[Happiness]

I agree with spenac. In any industry or company it had to start with one person asking a question and comming up with an idea to answer it.

happy

[brentoli]

Wow there have really gotten to be a lot of jerks on here. Dart is asking some questions, why not answer those asked and then politely give him some ideas to help his chances of success. With the responses given here it is no wonder this site is quickly losing its reputation as a quality place to hang out and discuss EMS and real life.

Dart I apologize for the asinine comments you have received and I hope you the best in your quest. I am sorry I have no knowledge of flight so have no way to help.

I don't quite understand how telling a 20 year old kid that theres much more to starting an air-evac service than just getting a helicopter and a couple of radios.

Sometimes people need reality checks. Dream big? Sure! I dream big all the time. I have thought up enough plans to start an ALS service for my area I could probably fill a 3" binder with the proposal. The problem comes in 2 forms:

First, getting the funding, people, and equipment to start the service.

Second, and argueably the hardest of the two, convincing people the status quo isn't good enough. Convincing fire chiefs, ambulance chiefs, the public, politicians.

I agree with spenac. In any industry or company it had to start with one person asking a question and comming up with an idea to answer it.

happy

If you will check this post:

Do you really need Air Med in your area? Do you have documented problems with it? Here is my suggestion to you.

Go back 5 years and find documentation showing a need for Air Med

Get all the other jurisdictions in your area to do the same

Schedule meetings with the service rep for all of the Air Med companies that service NY

Show them the documentation you have in an easy to understand no-nonsense manner. These people don't want to waste their time with hill-jacks saying "Heliocopters are cool, man!"

Sit back and see what happens.

You will see there is a well thought out answer to his problems. Also there are several other posts here that are offering a solution and answers to the question. Is one or two out of line? Maybe. But I don't see how you can sit here and defend an obvious whackerish question. This question came from someone whose only contributions to this forum are asking

1) How to install a radio in his truck

2) How to install grill lights in his truck

I am sorry, but with a history like that, and 5 posts to his name, of course a post like that will be called out for the wackerness.

[spenac]

I am sorry, but with a history like that, and 5 posts to his name, of course a post like that will be called out for the wackerness.

Did I say every poster was being a jerk? Also perhaps the only posts are because jerks like attacked this post attacked the others.

Why can't we give the benefit of the doubt and help rather than attacking and resorting to immature name calling?

[dartimer2]

This was just a quick post to see what people had for ideas. I never meant any harm by it. I will post a longer, in depth post later tonight when I have time. You see I was at work with him and he wanted me to post and see what kind of responses people could give him so he could research more. There is a lot to the story and yeah, I know I didn't post an in-depth post, but I was just asking for idea. The couple of people who posted something useful...I thank you. Look for my new post in a few hours.

[usmc_chris]

I tend to agree with the last two posters, however, I also agree that the OP is definitely asking the wrong questions as his first ones. I'm kinda sorta familiar with the region he is from, as I worked near there for a time. I believe he is referring to the greater Adirondack region. It's no joke, a HEMS system would be great for this region. I don't know what's available way up in the North Country, but for at least the southern portion your options are Mercy Flight Central out of Syracuse, a service out of Albany, or MAST from Ft. Drum (I'm not sure if they still do medevacs, but if they do, the Army gives you a helicopter and a pilot - you provide a medic and a way to get them home - not the greatest option). A closer HEMS service would be an asset to the area and beneficial to patients, if run properly - one local "hospital" is all of four beds, one ED and three inpatient, and has no physician at most times - I think an RN is most often in charge. To answer one of your questions -

You may need to consider multiple radios. That being said, the State EMS frequency of 155.340 is NOT an EMS communications frequency. It is primarily used throughout the state in lieu of the national MED 1-10 UHF frequencies - for ambulance to hospital radio reports or orders. EMS 340, as it's commonly referred to, at least in the counties I have worked, is almost never used for vehicle to vehicle communications. If you need a patch from high band VHF to low band VHF, UHF, or 800/900 MHz frequencies then the most common channel is the alternate frequency, 155.175. Most county dispatch centers can set a patch up so you can use your high band VHF radio and talk to county agencies regardless of the frequencies they are using.

I honestly have no clue about your other question.

The first thing you would need, if you and your friend are serious about this, would be, of course, a helicopter, and a LOT of money. While HEMS does pay a lot per transport, in the area you are thinking of serving, they patient population simply isn't high enough to keep your volume sufficient to keep this kind of operation afloat. Some kind of subsidy would most likely be necessary in order to stay in business. If you really are serious, I would check out the State EMS website at http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/ems/main.htm. They have most of the information about starting an ambulance service in New York State, with some references to HEMS. You would need, in your helicoptor, for example, a siren. No kidding... EVERY ambulance in NYS has lights and a siren. So, quite literally, the certified state HEMS services literally put sirens in the helicopters (at least some of the ones I am familiar with do - others may actually fill out the waiver paperwork with the state).

Good luck in your venture...

[medic_texas]

The nearest helicopter is 1-1.5 hours away? Is that flight time or you driving to where the helicopter is; that's a big difference.

I just don't believe that however it could be true; I've never been to that area.

I won't even waste my time on the topic in general. Starting a HEMS service requires many things that 2 individuals wouldn't be able to do without a huge sum of money.

Edited March 29, 2010 by medic_texas

[VentMedic]

Get one of those Vietnam era choppers from federal surplus and run a dustoff service..

This I would never advise anyone to do. We have a service in FL that purchased a 1968 Huey for a bargain price of $326,000. It ended up being a money pit with parts that were difficult to obtain and a couple of pilots out of a job when they raised a fuss about a little issue like safety. It was not reliable due to maintenance problems and another service had to be called from over an hour away to pick up the patient at the last minute when the Huey couldn't take off due to mechanical failure.

This service has since purchased a 1982 Sikorsky for $3.7 million.

But, there is still much controversy surrounding it for funding and tax purposes as well as what transport service is appropriate for the patient. The local hospitals still prefer to call the Children's Hospital and their helicopter or fixed wing for Specialty transports. Of course the local service gets its feelings hurt. There is also an issue with obtaining the contracts from the hospitals and liability issues for medical control as well as that of the flight team's medical director.

Edited March 29, 2010 by VentMedic

[Dustdevil]

The good news is that your salary overhead is pretty cheap. The world is flooded with whacker medics who would gladly work for minimum wage -- or even free -- just to be able to call themselves a flight medic. And there is a glut of pilots too, so they can be had at bargain basement prices. Your maintenance people are going to demand the highest wages.

[Jwade]

This was just a quick post to see what people had for ideas. I never meant any harm by it. I will post a longer, in depth post later tonight when I have time. You see I was at work with him and he wanted me to post and see what kind of responses people could give him so he could research more. There is a lot to the story and yeah, I know I didn't post an in-depth post, but I was just asking for idea. The couple of people who posted something useful...I thank you. Look for my new post in a few hours.

Dart,

Here is the REAL, NO BULLSHIT deal answers to your questions...

FIRST AND FOREMOST......

1. You and Your Friend need to write a BUSINESS PLAN for your future Helicopter Service....

For Example

I am currently in the process of starting a fixed wing operation with a friend of mine, and the business plan we wrote was 35 pages, with 15 of those pages being nothing but FINANCIAL INDICATORS. This will be the HEART and SOUL of the operation and not something that can be thrown together quickly or done mediocre.

For example,

1. Personnel Plan

2. Profitability %

3. Activity Ratios

4. Leverage Ratios

5. Liquidity Ratios

6. EBITDA

7. Debt to Asset Ratios

8. Revenue Forecast - Broken down monthly

9. Revenue Forecast - yearly

10. Break Even Analysis for 1st year

11. Pro Forma P&L ( Profit and Loss) Statements, Must Pro Forma out 5 years

12. Gross Margin & Monthly Profit

13. Pro Forma Cash Flow - 5 years Projected

14. Pro Forma Balance Sheet - 5 years = Assets & Liabilities / Shareholders Equity

15. Sensitivity Analysis

The above was just my financial section alone, and it took us months just to write the plan, revise, revise, revise, etc......We are now in the process of dealing with Angel Investors for our initial startup funds.....

With your limited experience in the air-medical industry and limited formal business education, I would say you have your work cut out for you indeed, not impossible, but, you're going to need the right help from the right people....

Once, you get this done and perfected, you then need to decide if you are going with a specific Vendor, and whose Part 135 certificate you will be using. This is also something that must be planned for, as the FAA just doesnt give these out like candy....They are VERY EXPENSIVE and time consuming to get one....and without one, you do not fly anywhere.....

Now, after those things are done, you must think about aircraft type, Single vs Twin, VFR vs IFR, Single Pilot vs Dual Pilot, Medical Crew Configuration, training, continuing education, maintenance, Night Vision Goggles..., etc.....

Where are you going to base the helicopter, Hospital, airport, or some other option?

Medical Director....You must have a medical director for the program.

These are just some of the very basic things you must have done to even remotely have a chance to get this thing off the ground......again, Not impossible, but highly improbable with what I have read so far.....

Let us know more.

John Wade, MBA, CCEMT-P, FP-C

[Kiwiology]

I have an extensive background in aviation systems and regulatory complaince and this is the stupidest idea I have ever heard.

We're not talking about some good ole agriculture boys running around with a little wee single engine plane doing top dressing or spraying thier crops.

The ideas you propose would cost literally millions of dollars and require an extensive team of people to run the operation as well as thousands of pages of documentation, policy, standards and processess all of which have to approved by the FAA.

Oh and to answer your original question, the pilots' fly the helicopter it is the crewmembers job to talk with the ground services. Generally they would use a VHF system, something in the 400MHz range.

You may wish to look into the feasibility of dual pilot IFR.