Near Miss: Helicopter Almost Hit by Car
The near miss for this week deals with a helicopter coming in for a landing on a highway:
The duty battalion chief whose response area we were actually in went back up the highway, approximately half a mile from the scene, to set up the landing zone. The MVA had completely blocked the highway. There were three different law enforcement agencies on scene helping handle the traffic. With the LZ established and apparently secure, the air medical helicopter was guided in. With the helicopter on final approach, a civilian vehicle darted into the LZ.
Read the whole report to get all of the details.
Here is part of the Lessons Learned that really made sense to me.
Never, ever assume that civilian drivers know what you are trying to accomplish. People are focused on trying to get to their destination by the route they originally intended. If they know a way around your roadblock, detour, or feel overly inconvenienced by having to wait as we deal with critical patients, EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED. This doesn't make them bad people. They just don't understand how their actions can compromise the safety of everyone operating at that scene.
Does your department work with helicopters?
Are your members familiar with landing zone procedures?
Is adequate traffic control maintained at your incidents?
Posted April 20, 2006 10:22 AM · Link
· Near Misses
