Re: Hot vs cold loading and unloading

[GBSimons@aol.com]

Hello All!
       In our area, helicopters tend to stay hot at scenes, esp. on the 
highway. The LZ on a highway is secured by EMS, fire, or law enforcement. Law 
enforcement kind of prefers us to stay hot on the slim off chance the 
aircraft won't start (and therefore block their highway). However, it is 
ultimately the flight team's call. If there is a safety issue or a reason for 
a prolonged wait, such as a lengthy extrication, we shut down. We have also 
shut down on some rural highways with multiple victim accidents (i.e.: 15 
undocumented aliens stuffed in a camper shell) due to our being the only ALS 
initially on scene and having to triage and treat until other units arrived. 
In general, if we feel we are going to be quick and the LZ is secure, we stay 
running. We have some long distances to travel out here, and sometimes we 
shut down to conserve fuel if we will be delayed on the ground for any 
reason. As far as I know, EMS has no problem with our decisions. We did have 
a BK-117 fail to start in an intersection once, and the police officer came 
up to our pilot's window and said in all seriousness, "You can't park this 
here." Luckily we avoided being towed away to the police impound yard as the 
engines started after recycling the generator switches.

George Simons, RN, MS, FNP-C
Flight Nurse
LifeNet Arizona
Tucson, Arizona

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