Helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) missions provide vital transport of critically ill patients. Heightened awareness of HEMS safety has resulted from an escalating number of crashes, increasing from 1.7 per 100,000 flight hours in 1996 to 1997 to 4.8 per 100,000 flight hours in 2003 to 2004. One estimate puts crewmember risk of fatal crash over a 20-year career at 37%. The need for safety instruction can be categorized into crew safety and ground personnel safety training. Industry standards dictate that, at minimum, crewmembers must complete safety training yearly. This training includes identifying appropriate landing zones and communication with ground emergency medical services (EMS) personnel. However, participation in an 8-hour refresher course has not demonstrated long-term knowledge retention. An alternate method of instruction using streaming online media proved superior in this regard.
展开▼
