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At 07:38 AM 10/6/97 +0800, you wrote: >On Mon, 6 Oct 1997 09:32:54 -0400, Wrolf.Courtney@do*.co* >wrote: >> >>Hi: >> >>I have had conflicting information about the procedure for helicopter >>evacuation from boats. >> >>One set of people (who I trust) tell me that the boat has to let go the >>anchor and get underway. They told me that >>if not, then the downdraft from the helicopter just keeps blowing the boat >>to one side. >> >>The other set (who I also trust) tells me not. >> >>Thanks in advance, >> >>Wrolf > >Wrolf, I have never seen nor heard of this. Helicopter evacuations are >used in serious medical emergencies when evacuation by FRC is >unsuitable. Time is critical in these applications. If a boat is at >anchor, it will assume a natural position head to wind. If it is lying >ahull, it will assume a natural position (usually beam on) to the wind. > Either way, the boat's attitude is usually fixed due to wind and >current conditions, unless there exists a heavy sea. The helicopter >must make its approach head to wind, in order to keep station while (in >Canada) a DND Sar Tech is lowered on a wire to either confirm or >conduct patient stabilization, followed by a basket stretcher, into >which the patient is secured and hoisted, then the wire comes down >again to recover the Sar Tech. While it is true that the downdraft >from the SAR helicopters can be considerable, especially on the >Labradors that a ground crew must lean into to avoid being blown over >during a landing, the effects that this might have on a small boat are >irrelevant, since in a SAR situation the equipment MUST perform to task >in any situation, including heavy weather where the boat may be getting >tossed around. This is just common sense stuff. > >Hope this answers your question. > >-Sean Wrolf & Sean Operating Procedure for the USCG are as follows. If they are sending a chopper, it means that you are more than 25 miles of the coast or this person is about dead (blue looking). Normally your going to be in a full run back to the hill to get this person off the boat ASAP!!. So this will mean that most boats run 14 to 30 knots. You will contact USCG on channel 16a on VHF, and for this area and most of the US coast, once contact is made, they switch you to 22a. The chopper is also going to contact you once they are 10min out from your location. They are going to ask for long and lat, your heading and your speed. They will also request that you clear your deck of all loose gear, lower you outriggers and put radio antenias forward. Once all of this is worked out and the information returned, they will make their approach off the stern of the boat (seas and wind directions are not a big factor, except if in large swells if in large swells they are going to have you put it into the seas for your saftey). They will lower a SAR Diver via the basket, as the basket is coming down, they are going to tell you not to touch the basket untill it is on the deck (static elect will kick you like a mule!!). The SAR diver will eval the patient, load him/her into the basket, raise the patient up, and then make another drop to get the SAR diver. They fly back to land and drop the patient. It is true that with a boat on the hook, it makes it much more difficut for the chopper pilot, due to the fact that the boat will move all over the place from the prop wash. USCG prefers that you be underway for pick ups off of a small boat. For larger ships they can be on the hook or underway. Due to their large mass, the prop wash doesn't effect them as much. jeff Respiratoy Therpist -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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