Helicopters rescue

As the following account by a mountain rescue guide illustrates The incident involved a 15-year-old boy who sustained head injuries and a very badly broken leg. Helicopter assistance was unavailable and therefore we had to carry him by stretcher to the nearest landrover (several miles away) and then on to a waiting ambulance. 

Organisational RIFs (Level 2) are risk influencing factors related to the organizational basis, support and control of running activities in helicopter transport. These factors are related to helicopter manufacturers and operators, helideck/hehport operators, air traffic/navigation services and search and rescue services. 

Rescue evacuation/preparedness needs to consider full evacuation to appropriate medical facilities including helicopter and decompression facilities. For instance, the contractor should contact the coastguard and discuss emergency evacuation procedures/preparedness. 

The marine environment differentiates offshore work from that done onshore. Work is done on the water, in or with a boat under the water in diving operations or above the water, in or on a wind turbine. Weather is a factor for land-based work, but in the offshore environment, the weather and sea state (wind speed, wave height, visibility, etc.) are deciding factors. A typical offshore wind project will plan for significant downtime due to bad weather conditions. Unlike workers onshore, offshore technicians do not drive themselves to the work site but are transported by a vessel, which has its own crew. Offshore technicians are dependent on a complex logistical arrangement that includes transfer to and from a vessel or helicopter, coordination with other marine vessels, and extra marine rescue equipment (for example, an immersion suit). Training,... 

Fire departments in many of the larger cities have added helicopters to their inventory of rescue equijr-ment. In some cases, where law enforcement were shedding the medical jobs and the hospitals could not bear the loss of the service, the fire department stepped in to do the job. Fire departments have also found that in some cases they can use the helicopter as a rescue vehicle for individuals who have become trapped or to carry hoses up above the flames where the truck s ladder could not reach. 

Jackson, Robert, ed. Helicopters Military, Civilian, and Rescue Rotorcrafi. San Diego, Calif Thunder Bay Press, 2005. A well-illustrated book that breaks down the individual information of each helicopter that has been used up to 2005. 

If personnel are forced to leave the platform, either by TEMPSC, life raft, or by jumping into the water, they will have to be rescued. Usually this is done by service boats helicopters may not be able to come close enough depending on the severity and type of the incident. 

Evacuation from the platform complex was difficult, because the fire prevented six of the eight lifeboats being launched from the complex, and only one life raft was launched. Helicopters were not involved because the weather ruled than out Despite these difficulties, 362 people were rescued over the next 15 hours, although 22 died. The rescue operation should therefore be considered successful. 

Figure 9.3 Sea salt deposited on the external surface (a) of a Cormorant sea and rescue helicopter radar antenna, and (b) salt causing corrosion to the internal components of the antenna due to a broken seal. (Courtesy Major S.J.R. Giguere)...

Military applications of thermal imaging technologies include search and rescue, target surveillance, threat detection and assessment, weapons and mines detection, and weapons and missile guidance. Figure 11.7 shows a military helicopter in flight and illustrates the resolution capabilities of modem night vision surveillance systems. 

A vehicle and passenger ferry capsized at the entrance to Zeebrugge harbour. The bow doors were not closed at departure from Zeebrugge because the responsible crew member had overslept, the supervising officer failed to check and the master did not require a positive report - even though he could not see the doors from the bridge. Water flowed into the vehicle deck as the ship accelerated and the ship rolled from 0° to 90° within 90 seconds. There was no time to launch lifeboats or life rafts. The ship came to rest on a sandbank with the starboard side out of the water, from where survivors were rescued by helicopter. Of the estimated 539 people on board almost 200 died (the ship was certified to carry 1400 people). 

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