NCJ Number
110545
Journal
Trooper Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1988) Pages: 41-47
Date Published
1988
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The Med-Flight II, Virginia State Police Aviation Unit's newest branch, is described.
Abstract
Airlifting critically injured patients to hospitals is the main function of the Virginia State Police Aviation Unit's Med-Flight II, which began air operations in March 1987 and by November had logged more than 100 medivac missions. Statistics compiled at State Police Administrative Headquarters in Richmond, indicate that at least 15 percent of the people picked up by five helicopter crews around the State of Virginia would have died last year without the aid of medivac missions. Despite these successes, there have been questions raised regarding safety factors. The Aviation Unit program is accident-free so far, but there is concern over the recent losses of life in the aeromedical industry due to helicopter accidents mostly caused by pilot error. The FAA has been urged to impose tighter visual flight rules on pilots to prevent accidents in marginal weather. The situation is complicated by the fact that 35 percent of all hospital-based aeromedical services compete with each other for patients.