A Safety Review and Risk Assessment in Air Medical Transport
Ira J. Blumen, MD and the UCAN Safety Committee
Air Medical Physician Handbook 2002
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive
Summary …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..i
Ira J. Blumen, Jeffrey Coto, Charles L. Maddow, Michael Casner, Craig Felty, Karen Arndt
A Safety Review and Risk Assessment in Air Medical Transport
Ira J. Blumen and the UCAN Safety Committee
INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………………..1
SECTION 1: AIR MEDICAL ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS ……………………………2
An Overview of HEMS Accidents: 1972 to 2002 …………………………………………………..3
Air Medical Accidents: A 20–Year Review …………………………………………………………4
National Transportation Safety Board Safety Study: Commercial Emergency Medical Service
Helicopter Operations – 1988 ………..10
Flight Safety Foundation: Human Error as Major Cause of U.S. Commercial EMS Helicopter Accidents ……..11
Emergency Medical Service Helicopters Incidents Reported to the Aviation Safety Reporting System …………..12
Air Medical Accident Analysis……………15
HEMS Accidents and Incidents, 1998 to 2001………….18
HEMS Accident and Fatal Accident Rates………………………18SECTION 2: A COMPARISON OF HEMS TO OTHER TYPES OF AVIATION…………………………………………….24
Helicopter EMS vs. All Helicopter Accident Data: 1990–2000……………………….24
Factors Related to Occupant Crash Survival in EMS Helicopters………………………………….28
Helicopter Accident Analysis Team…………………………………………………29
HEMS vs. Other Aviation Operations ……………………………………………………………..31
Single- vs. Twin-Engine Helicopter Accident Rates…………………………..37
Helicopter Accidents, 2001………………………………………………………………..38
SECTION 3: A COMPARISON OF RISK…………………………………………..38
HEMS: Analyzing the Population at Risk……………………………………..39
Comparing HEMS to Other Risks………………………………………..41
SECTION 4: SAFETY and RISK MANAGEMENT in HEMS…………………………47
Principles of a Safety and Risk Management Program…………………………………….47
Risk Management……………………………………….48
Air Medical Resource Management……………………………………..51
SECTION 5: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………53
Attachment 1: HEMS Accident Summary, 1998–2002………………………………………..55
Editorials: Risk Management, Benefit and Cost Ed MacDonald ……………………………………………………………………….64
Can We Have Benefits Without Risk? Thomas Judge, CCT-P…………………………68
Angels of Mercy or Angles of Death Michelle North, Ph.D…………………………..69