ER24 is urging all motorists to be patient when a helicopter rescue is underway.
A medical helicopter is used when:
* A patient’s injuries are very serious.
* The patient needs to get to an appropriate facility immediately,
* The terrain is hostile or difficult to navigate.
* It is necessary to have medical expertise close by.
There are also various other factors that may influence the decision to airlift a patient. These are usually determined in conjunction with the medical officer on call.
Gareth Staley, ER24’s Gauteng regional manager, explains that helicopters don’t always land on the road.
“We prefer not to land on a road. It remains a safety risk. We prefer to land on a field close to the scene but sometimes the road is the only option.
“We would then get the traffic police, the fire department or the police to assist. If not, our crews assist by using road cones or blocking the road with ER24 vehicles.”
Reasons why a road is closed:
- Helicopter requires space to land. A road offers more options should something go wrong.
- There is no suitable space on the side of the road for the helicopter to land. This can be because of fences, barriers or uneven ground.
- Especially at night, the road offers better lighting.
- To enable authorities to be closer to the scene.
Jo Nieman, emergency service liaison at Flightshare, explains further.
“There are certain scoring mechanisms that paramedics use at a scene. For example, when a patient is seriously injured and the hospital is 10 minutes away, peak time traffic on this route will cause you to take about an hour.
“A helicopter is potentially the better option here.
“You also need to consider the terrain. Are we stuck in the middle of nowhere? A patient might suffer from a spinal injury in a place far from civilisation. The road might be too bumpy and driving with the ambulance could potentially worsen the patient’s injury. A patient might also need the skills of a better qualified paramedic and the helicopter is used to transport such a paramedic to a scene,” said Nieman.
According to Staley motorists ignore the road closures all the time.
Nieman gives an example.
“We needed to close a road immediately for an emergency landing of a helicopter that was needed to transfer a critically injured patient. The public became quite aggressive towards us.
“This could stress the pilot. A helicopter will abort its mission if the landing pad isn’t properly prepared or if their safety isn’t guaranteed.
“Motorists also don’t realise that when they ignore a closed intersection they might not know the dimensions of an aircraft. They see we might use a quarter of the closed intersection but it is because we need space.
“Some motorists ignore the cones and drive through the closed intersection. They might not take into consideration the blades or the tail rotor’s size. If you knock the tail rotor, for example, it can throw the aircraft off balance and this can be catastrophic,” said Nieman.
“You also need to understand that it could be your family member or someone you know whom we are trying to save. Even if it is not your family member now, if you crash into our aircraft that helicopter might be out of service when your family needs it the most.”
