Given the numerous helicopter accidents one has to wonder how helicopter medevac can really be profitable. Hospitals have, indeed, taken on a chopper with the hope of increasing revenue by extending their reach. A lot of pressures exerted on pilots to fly even when it may not be safe to do so. Staff who eagerly want to be of service, may have clouded judgment. Administrators may have undue pressures on the pilot to perform. Still, it is the pilot who flies and ultimately needs to make the call to go or not go. Other dynamics play into the situation as EMS on the ground shop around and pit one service against another. Competition exists in all industries. In helicopter medevac it is a dangerous game with a great deal of potential for disaster to claim the lives of not only the crew, but the patient they were assumedly trying to rescue. The record speaks for itself. How many lives must be lost before the EMS system comes to its senses and openly deal with the reality of the problem.
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