The most dangerous job in US is emergency medical helicopter pilot

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123370317612745375.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Study Spotlights Helicopter Dangers

By ANDY PASZTOR

WASHINGTON -- Emergency medical helicopter pilots had the most dangerous jobs in the U.S., racking up fatalities at a faster clip than loggers and other historically risky professions, according to a new study presented to federal air-crash investigators.

In addition to sobering statistics about the hazards of such medical chopper flights for patients as well as pilots, testimony at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing Tuesday illustrated the drawbacks of relying on voluntary industry efforts to improve safety.

Comparing 13 medical helicopter crashes that claimed 29 lives in 2008 with federal fatality rates for many other accident-prone professions, Dr. Ira Blumen, of the University of Chicago Hospitals, concluded that statistically the pilots "far exceed any of the high-risk occupations."

At least 180 people have been killed or seriously injured in U.S. medical helicopter crashes over past decade, with 2008 ending up as the most deadly year ever. Against this backdrop, the safety board is prodding regulators to require helicopter operators to install devices that can warn pilots of impending collisions with the ground, as well as digital flight-data recorders that are better able to record what occurred in the event of a crash.

[ferrous wheel]

1. It is a combination of dangerous missions undertaken by mediocre pilots.

A recipe for trouble.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

4. Where was it reported that the pilots were mediocre?

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Have you ever worked along side these people?

they are top notch, many of them trained by uncle sam as well, to do that exact same job while getting shot at

I dislike people who have no clue

Now what you said about dangerous missions and weather, you are onto something. Some of these people choose to fly in conditions that nobody else would... and at times land in interesting places

[ferrous wheel]

18. Most of them are not military trained these days. Someone who chooses to

fly in {unsafe} conditions...(your own words) is by definition being a mediocre pilot. You made my point for me, thank you!

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

20. Do you have a single link or reputable source to back up the crap you are spewing?

[ferrous wheel]

21. I'm a designated pilot examiner. I run into all kinds.

You seem to think I implied they are ALL mediocre...I did no such thing, I said the ones who crash are mediocre.
That is especially true when the subsequent investigation shows they attempted an inherently unsafe procedure.
As it usually does.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

22. Again a link that shows the majority of medevac accidents are caused by poorly trained pilots?

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. Lets cite them sparky

NIGHT...many of EMS missions are AT NIGHT...even in clear nights

Canyon flying...choice of ground crews would be to evac their patient by land. Problem is sparky, the patient does not have the time to be evacuated by land. So many a times SHORT HAULS are used... short hauls have a problem called cross winds... YEP these are bad pilots, RIGHT...
:sarcasm:

Fire... many a times these pilots undertake missions into fire zones, like oh forest fires... where we both know many pilots fly on the drop of a hat... :sarcasm: why? at times to assist fire crews. Or to evac civies... a few times these pilots help take people OFF the top of burning buildings. What do they have in common? UPDRAFTS that are highly predictable, NOT.

Foggy conditions into freeways where people did us the favor of crashing. Seen one more than one of these missions scrubbed by pilots or GROUND controllers... due to sudden worsening visibility

Winter conditions...see above

Rainy conditions, see above

They could increase safety by adding an observer to crews...this will increase the size of the chopper by the way

Oh and I do hope you NEVER need a medivac.

After all you'd have to take the mediocre pilot...

Oh and sparky...many of these pilots are former military pilots, lower percentage than they used to, but THEY ARE.

[ferrous wheel]

28. I give up, you're right. There are no mediocre pilots, they are all superheroes.

No crash has ever resulted from mediocrity.



Happy?

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. SOME crashes come from pilot error, not all

and that is the point

They aren't superheroes...just people doing a highly stressful job under very difficult conditions.

In fact, most of us DON'T have what it takes... but not all of us are cut from the same mettle...and in a few cases some of us have worked along side these people.

I just have a problem with people making sweeping statements... like you did.

And I mean the SOME part... we have had some of these crashes come from MECHANICAL problems... but I am sure you have NEVER, EVER come across that one... and some of those mechanical problems are not caught by a walk through before flight.

Now if you did not mean that sweeping statement, fine...but it is not just me sparky that read your note as meaning all medeval pilots are mediocre...

[ribrepin]

15. I was airlifted to a trauma center

My mediocre pilot flew me safely to my destination, accompanied me into the trauma bay and then gave me his hand to hold assuring me that everything that was happening was standard procedure. I really hope I didn't hurt his hand. I never got the chance to thank him and that is a great regret.

[ferrous wheel]

19. I'm trying to figure out where I said they are ALL mediocre.

Oh, I didn't...

[ribrepin]

31. On the worst day of my life

that helicopter pilot was there for me until my family got to the trauma center and then he disappeared without a thanks. I know you didn't say all pilots are mediocre, but those people risk their lives daily.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

23. I'll ask again where was it reported that the pilots were mediocre?

[catnhatnh]

2. Again it is a matter of playing with statistics...

and I don't deny it IS a dangerous profession...But lets look at offshore fishermen...here's a link

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/fishing/

This one quotes for the decade 1994-2004 with 641 deaths....and found commercial fisherman to be the most dangerous job in 2006 with 142 deaths per 100,000 or 36 more times dangerous than the average of 4 per 100k.
Also the OP's story adds patient and paramedics to the death toll to statistically increase the "danger" to the pilots. Actual Pilot deaths in 2008 was less than 10 if you figure on a three man crew and many flight crews are larger.

No real point here except you have to look closely at every story that contain figures to see how closely they support the spoken "truth".

[midnight]

3. Transplant Team Killed, Organ Lost in Plane Crash

The Cessna 550 Citation crashed about 5 p.m., shortly after takeoff on a flight to Ann Arbor that should have taken 42 minutes. One of the pilots reported severe difficulty steering the plane because of trouble with its trim system, which controls bank and pitch, said John Brannen, an investigator with the

The team included two veterans, cardiac surgeon Martinus "Martin" Spoor and transplant donation specialist Richard Chenault II, who had flown dozens of such missions. Also on the team was David Ashburn, a physician-in-training in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, and Richard LaPensee, another transplant donation specialist. Pilots Dennis Hoyes and Bill Serra also were killed.

[Tsiyu]

5. What my ex did

He was not a drinking man, but every now and then he would come home from a rough flight - high winds trying to get a patient who was stuck down in a gorge or flying over unlit mountains on winter nights - and he would head straight for the bottle of whiskey he kept for those occasions.

But he was a very safe pilot; all the flight medics preferred him over the other "cowboys" he worked with. Some of those guys are nuts.

Now he's flying fixed wing, corporate. His son(mine,too) and I are happy he's out of the high stress medical world.

[catnhatnh]

6. The "cowboys"....

...I have spent some time around choppers (as a mechanic) and one thing I could always spot was an ex-combat pilot. It's something in how they make their approach and flare...kinda hard to explain...a precision and pride in hitting their marks and seldom slowing once committed...once they cleared the ground it was just a little bank and GONE....

My take on it was this....a little pride,a little swagger...but these boys had survived and really were that good...

The best book I've read on these guys was called "Chickenhawk" by a guy named Mason...the first name escapes me...

[Tsiyu]

8. It takes nads to fly choppers

I got to fly in them quite often and was always freaked out by takeoff. Especially in those little ones they called "Weedwackers" (Robinsons? Dunno). The floor is see through so it's really ..um...enlightening.

The ex is the consummate practical joker. When he was a police chopper dude, he and his buddies would make flour bombs and toss them on cops they owed one to. Black uniforms covered in flour, and you can't catch the guy who did it til he lands...

He'll buzz this place here when my son is up if he's in a chopper and totally freak out my neighbors.

[catnhatnh]

9. They are something....

without naming names my favorite was a Warrant Officer with an artificial leg and balls to big to fit in the cabin with him...loved to see him pin his flight briefing notes to his leg with a push pin he carried with him...

[Tsiyu]

13. What a character

I could never be a pilot, but I admire those with the concentration and ability to fly.

When I worked RT and had the luck of drawing the ER beeper, I also appreciated the dedication of the flight crews. They kept constant communication with us at the hospital as to patient status and ETA, and they would help shield patients from the media as we wheeled them in. And most importantly, stay to help get them stabilized.

They were professionals doing a very tough job.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. The only time I flew as a medic in a medical evac

the pilot was an old Nam bird... HE WAS GOOD...

Oh and it was not a bird set for medevac, state police chopper, badly burned patient, we jury rigged that bird for transport

Oh and that day I finally got it, NEVER VOLUNTEER YOURSELF...

[cobalt1999]

7. Nothing compared to the early air mail pilots

Little to no instrumentation, a Post Office that demanded deliveries regardless of weather, and the life expectancy was less than 1000 hours of flight time.

[GaYellowDawg]

10. Never mind. Edited an inappropriate humor response.

People who fly those helicopters are quite admirable.

[Tsiyu]

14. Admirable indeed

:D

[catnhatnh]

16. From an E-mail I received recently...

You're a 19 year old kid, critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley, 11-14-1965, LZ Xray, Vietnam. Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 - 1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in.

You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is halfway around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.

Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because there are no Medi-Vac markings on it.

Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were told not to come.

He's coming anyway.

And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board.

Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the waiting Doctors and Nurses.

And, he kept coming back...... 13 more times.... and took over 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

Medal of Honor Recipient Ed Freeman died August 20, 2008 in Boise, ID, at the age of 80.

May God rest his soul.....

[provis99]

17. most dangerous job in US? President

1 in 11 Presidents has been murdered. Others have been victims of assassination attempts. I think that would qualify as most dangerous job in US.

[crimsonblue]

24. actually, historically the most dangerous job is United States President

There have been four assassinations of a President, and 90 attempts on sitting or former Presidents.

[Winterblues]

25. Commercial Fishing has that beat all to hell

Just saying.....

[deaniac21]

27. I'll bet the Hamas suicide bombers laugh at this one.

[we can do it]

30. I Think Being the Flight Medic/Nurse Is Just As Dangerous