The challenges of operating civilian SAR and HEMS in Latin America

Chris Sharpe shares his experiences on the unique challenges and risks he faced when starting up a civilian search and rescue organisation in Central America

High-rise helicopter rescues

Barry Smith investigates the unique challenges of helicopter rescues when you’re surrounded by high-rise buildings

Covid-19: Great North Air Ambulance Service’s story

Araminta Hartley looks at how Covid-19 has affected the charity’s work so far, and how they see the situation developing over the months to come

Covid-19 changes EURAMI accreditation audit process

Claudia Schmiedhuber shared how the past year, which has been inevitably shaped and forever changed by Covid-19, has presented an opportunity to change the way accreditation audits have been performed…

Hoisting Challenges – Onshore versus Offshore rescues

Rob Munday shares insights from his experiences as a hoist crewman and instructor for both onshore and offshore helicopter operations, identifying the key differentiators between the two environments, and what…

Top Challenges for Air Medical Providers - looking backwards and forwards

Businesses all over the world have had to adapt their operations this year, but for the aviation industry in particular, 2020 has been one of the most difficult years on…

High-altitude rescues – considerations and concerns

Barry Smith shares insights from experts taking on the ultimate challenge for rescue crews – rescue at high altitude, where aircraft and crew are pushed to the limit

Air ambulance services start campaign to improve wellbeing

Air ambulance charities to launch a national wellness campaign during pandemic

New Head of Operations joins Great Western Air Ambulance Charity

The UK-based Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) has appointed a Head of Operations to enhance leadership at the charity

AAMS to train clinicians to enter the air medical industry

The US-based Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) has launched a free 40-week training program for clinicians

Bucher’s new rescue equipment gets EASA approval

The newly developed AC67 flex enables customers to convert their H135 helicopters into fully functional rescue helicopters in under 30 minutes

More news

Safety culture and good decisions

Terry Palmer asks why, despite ongoing improvements in safety in helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS), there continue to be preventable accidents

Provider Profile: LifeFlight

The sky’s the limit for LifeFlight, a not-for-profit aeromedical service based in Queensland, Australia, bringing emergency, lifesaving medical treatment to seriously ill and injured people in their time of need

HEMS fitness – train movements, not muscles

Dan Leary, a retired US Coast Guard helicopter pilot and current HEMS pilot in Astoria, Oregon, shares his insights into the kinds of exercises that can help flight and medical…

The cost of special missions insurance

Helicopters flying emergency medical and police missions are involved in proportionately fewer fatal and non-fatal accidents than other rotorcraft, according to safety experts from the US Helicopter Safety Team. In…

Aerial assets of US Customs and Border Protection

A border is more than a wall, a fence, a divider or a boundary line. Amy Gallagher found out how the US Customs and Border Protection and Air and Marine…

Sharing experiences in crew resource management

Rick London of the UK’s National Police Air Service (NPAS) discusses the culture of crew resource management (CRM) in police aviation, and the importance of crewmembers sharing experiences with each…

French Air Force EC-725 working with a USAF C-130 to evacuate victims during a training exercise © Barry Smith

Multi-agency disaster management

Barry Smith discusses how relief organisations can work together effectively after a disaster by designing, creating, and building an effective response system

Military SAR, a look ahead

Richard Bryson, Program Chief Engineer of Collins Aerospace’s hoist and winch division, shares his view of what the future of SAR might look like

Lease or buy - renewing air medical fleets

For fixed-wing air ambulance companies in the private sector, balancing the pros and cons of leasing or outright purchase is key, say operators. But for smaller outfits, raising finance can…

Crash-resistant fuel systems - uptake by civil helicopter operators

Amy Gallagher updates readers on the long-awaited Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulation, with its final ruling and reporting analysis of the crash-resistant fuel systems (CRFS), along with the reaction of…

Doing your safety duty in airborne special missions

How do airborne special missions providers manage and mitigate the risks to their crews? Mario Pierobon spoke to the experts to find out more

Migrant search and rescue

Alex Pollitt, a SAR pilot with Babcock Mission Critical Services España, asks if the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean could result in the final flourish of the manned helicopter as…

Hoisting infectious patients: Helicopter hoisting in the current Covid-19 environment

Brad Matheson of Priority 1 Air Rescue shared his insights into how to safely hoist patients that present with a respiratory infection, whether it be Covid-19 or anything else, keeping…

Helicopter rescue hoist training

Barry Smith investigates the ways in which special missions operators can train their teams to be ready for the helicopter hoist rescue scenarios they are going to face, whether from…