Safety Considerations for Medical Staff and Patients Who Fly Over Water in a Helicopter for Work or Recreation

Around 25% of people involved in a helicopter accident in water do not survive. From time to time, physicians and their medical staff are required to fly over water in a helicopter to attend one or more seriously ill patients. Many will have had little or no experience of the issues involved if the helicopter has an accident in the water. Also as Family Practitioners, Aeromedical Examiners, and Flight Surgeons, they are asked to provide advice to patients, travel agents, and airline booking agents about whether an overwater helicopter flight is advisable or not.

From 50 yr of helicopter accident evidence in the scientific literature, government agency reports, and statistics from the military safety centers and the offshore oil industry, the critical hazards involved and risks to medical staff and their patients have been identified.

Patients most at risk are those who suffer from cardiovascular or respiratory disease, have physical disabilities, have a very large body size, and anyone who is a non-swimmer. Medical staff are at risk if they are not familiar with the procedure for escape from a flooded inverted cabin and difficulties after escape from the fuselage with life jackets, life rafts, and sometimes the necessity to swim ashore.

With 50 yr of hindsight, many of the deaths were preventable, and many lives can be saved if a series of very simple mental and physical preventive actions are taken by anyone stepping on to a helicopter that flies over water.Brooks CJ, MacDonald CV. Safety considerations for medical staff and patients who fly over water in a helicopter for work or recreation. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(4):413-417.