Rushville, IN Helicopter Crash

GN Dave · Sep 1, 2008

I have to think that the act of selflessly giving one's life in the service to others should be awarded with a VIP pass right through the pearly gates... Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families....

CRNA2007 · Sep 1, 2008

It sure as heck seems like we have been losing an awful lot of medical air crews this past year.

mwboswell · Sep 1, 2008

Another sad day

Posted by: "Bryan Bledsoe, DO" [email protected] texasdoc428
Sun Aug 31, 2008 5:31 pm (PDT)
Helicopter Crash kills three
Posted: Aug 31, 2008 04:47 PM CDT
DECATUR COUNTY, Ind (WTHI) - Officials say just after 1:30 this afternoon an
Air Evac helicopter crashed in a field near County Road 700 West and Base
Line Road just west of Greensburg.
That's about 50 miles Southeast of Indianapolis.
News 10 is told a pilot and two nurses were traveling back to Rushville when
the helicopter went down.

2008 will be 2/3 over at midnight tonight. Thus far, 20 dead and 8 injured

in 12 medical helicopter crashes this year. When will the carnage stop?

Every time you call one of these helicopters please consider whether the

patient will benefit to a degree that justifies the risk these flight crews

take. When it is all saidand done, few patient benegit. Soon, they will not

be able to pay anybody enough to work in HEMS in the United States.

Katnip, RN · Sep 1, 2008

Has there been information released on what's caused all these crashes? I know a couple of years ago, at least one was the fault of the helicopter design.

littleRNthatcould · Sep 1, 2008

This company is trying to bring a crew to my state (WV). I recently was offered and refused a job with them. I have never been so thankful for my fear of heights after reading this. God bless the families of the lost crew. :saint:

PICNICRN, BSN, RN · Sep 1, 2008

I now live in a city that, in my opinion, uses air transport for patients way too casually. Very many patients are in the air that could easily be in an ambulance. Air evac is used very frequently just for hospital to hospital transports- most of these pts could get to the receiving facility in the same amount of time by ground. I must say that I was shocked at the amount of air traffic I have seen here as opposed to the midwest.

Over the past 3 years here, we have saddly had a few horrible medical helicopter crashes- it is just so sad!

Pat_Pat RN · Sep 1, 2008

I personally knew the nurse that was killed. She grew up in the town where our little hospital is. She flew out of the Air Evac base at our hospital for some years, and worked in our ER also. I worked with her on many occasions. She was a great nurse and had a lot to teach.

She had two grade-school aged kids.

Sandi was a beautiful woman and the fact that they were all burned beyond recognition seems all the more wrong. When the weather was bad and they couldn't fly, she (and others) would make cookies and bring them over to us in the ER. They had a mobile home they they stayed in that was set next to the helicopter garage.

A very sad day for us all, for sure.

This is the 2nd crash in Indiana in 4 years. The other crash the crew all lived but the patient, who was already in very poor condition, did not.

Pat_Pat RN · Sep 2, 2008

The Bell 206 is the safest helicopter flying today. (Hrs of flight vs. crashes)

This is from Air Evacs website:

What type of helicopter is used in the company’s operations?

The Bell 206 LongRanger has been selected by AEL because of its history of high reliability, low maintenance and operating efficiency.

A fleet consisting of a single type of helicopter leads to standardization, more efficient and effective training and maintenance, which results in greater safety and reliability in servicing the air ambulance requirements of small rural communities.

AEL operates an extensive maintenance and refurbishment center that employs more than 60 trained professionals who specialize in aircraft maintenance, avionics, sheet metal fabrication and aircraft painting. When AEL purchases a helicopter, each aircraft undergoes a rigorous refurbishment process. The helicopter is stripped down to the skeleton and rebuilt, so it is essentially a new aircraft when it is finally put back into service.

In the more than 23 years that AEL has been in operation, the company has not experienced an accident that can be attributed to its maintenance program.

bethin · Sep 2, 2008

The pilot -- Roger Warren -- a flight nurse -- Sandra Pearson -- and a flight paramedic -- Wade Weston -- on the Air Evac Lifeteam helicopter based in Rushville were killed when the helicopter crashed, officials said.
The crew was leaving a fundraiser at the Burney Fire Department and did not have a patient onboard, officials said.

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/17353706/detail.html

What makes this even worse for me is that I knew these people and it happened in my backyard.

getoverit, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Sep 2, 2008

The Bell 206 is the safest helicopter flying today. (Hrs of flight vs. crashes)
This is from Air Evacs website:
What type of helicopter is used in the company's operations?
AEL operates an extensive maintenance and refurbishment center that employs more than 60 trained professionals who specialize in aircraft maintenance, avionics, sheet metal fabrication and aircraft painting. When AEL purchases a helicopter, each aircraft undergoes a rigorous refurbishment process. The helicopter is stripped down to the skeleton and rebuilt, so it is essentially a new aircraft when it is finally put back into service.
this is not essentially a new aircraft. it ages with the number of engine hours. i'm not trying to down on ael, but this is one of the complaints with their service because...at times...it seems they have placed new skin and paint job on an old airframe and engine.
and in response to crna2007's statement: it's been way more than just this past year. these accidents have been increasing for several years, i've lost a couple friends myself. i think that a lot of what's flown could EASILY go by ground and there are a lot of reasons behind this (some are legit).
for scene responses, my experience has been that ground crews will "helicopter shop" trying to find a program that will fly their patient. in many cases...regardless of the weather, trying to increase numbers. i don't understand why a weather-sharing initiative isn't adopted all over the country. we would get calls from neighboring programs stating that they had just declined a flight..especially from ground crews that were notorious for calling everyone within a 100 mile radius. it made me think that with the amount of time spent requesting a flight, they probably could've driven to the trauma center by the time they got declined by everyone (foggy, pouring rain, lightning, etc....did they not hear the wx minimums in our lz in-service?)
not trying to rant or vent but this has been a big problem and i've been hopeful that aams.org/visionzero will help decrease these incidents.
my thoughts and prayers go with the families.....

Nidawi · Sep 2, 2008

oh, bethin!!! what a horrible tragedy!!! i just got up and read this first thing, and i am so sorry to hear about this!!! :bluecry1: are you okay? i can't imagine how difficult it would be to not only know them, but to have this happen in your own back yard. that brought tears to my eyes and i didn't even know them. i have already said prayers for them, their families, you and all those who knew them. please take good care of you!!! :redpinkhe