Hey folks, I don't post much because I generally don't have much useful info to add to the equation, being that I am a student pilot. I wanted to hear from any people on the board who have aeromedical experience, particularly involving backountry medevac and that sort of thing. I am a full-time paramedic and I will be hopefully be attaining flight medic certification this year. I am currently talking to a non-profit flight service who is providing air support to remote medical clinics in central america. They want to expand their services to offer medical care in flight and I am considering getting on board with them as a consultant. They are using Cessna 206's currently. I know their are a couple of services in the US using the 206 platform and I would like to hear any suggestions as to setting up ALS service out of a plane this size. Thanks for any constructive information!

Using a C206 would be tough. The companies using them, how are they configured for stretcher and seating? Co-pilot seat out with patient's head forward? You'll have no access for airway management. If limited to small single engine piston, a Cherokee Six or C207 would be more workable. But no matter what, there is not a lot of room for equipment, and you'll be limited to one patient. Another factor is very limited weather capability.

I work with a couple of fixed wing outfits and one helicopter air ambulance company here in Nevada. PM me if you want for #'s and contact info if that'll help.

Gump

Even in Alaska this is becoming extremely uncommon. Most have moved to either the King Air or the Cheyenne.Of course this presents a problem if your strip is less than 3000'...

I've managed more than one supine patient in the back of a 206 or a Six. As has denalipilot I'd wager. Pain in the backside. But for the third world...better than nothing.

Main thing is the ability to have more than one caregiver at the patient's side.

We dont do medevacs, we do medical charters . A patient on a backboard or litter fits fine in a 206, but the caregiver will either be on the floor (belted in skydiver style) or in the front seat. A 207 is a much better fit. We do them once or twice a week out of the villages. The FAA cracked down on oxygen last year but I think they caught so much shit from the villagers and congressmen/senators that they backed down on enforcement, or more likely they went on to the next important thing, like making sure dogs are tied down. I mean really as a pilot are you going to say to the pt or his family " I can't let you have O2 on board even though you are under medical Rx for them?" talk about a lawsuit just waiting to happen.

Thanks all for the posts. It is definitely going to be a challenging undertaking. The biggest limit is the size of the strips they are flying in to. These are remote jungle strips and some of them are just dirt paths through the village. The turbo 206's are pushing their limits as it is. There may be better options in the future but right now that is what they have to work with. They definitely will not be critical care units or anything like that but having a medical technician on board who can stabilize the patients pre-flight will be better than what they have now. Currently it is one pilot operating the plane with limited medical knowledge. They recently lost a child in flight who was suffering from dehydration, second to diarrhea. Preventable deaths like that are something they want to eliminate.

Gump, it looks like they are using patients head forward with co-pilot seat moved forward. From what I can tell the patient's head looks like it could still be reached. I am meeting with them next week and will have more information on their current setup. Also any on-board medical equipment would have to be portable due to the planes pulling double duty as utility transports. I am thinking monitor, jump bag, airway bag, and nothing else. Thats enough for one patient and it will keep the weight down. More like an intermediate life support unit rather than what we think of here in the states as aeromedical transport.

This may not be as practical as a T-206, but you would be the coolest dude in the bush flying this.

http://www.barnstormers.com/classified_ ... +L-5G.html

mountainmatt wrote:This may not be as practical as a T-206, but you would be the coolest dude in the bush flying this.

http://www.barnstormers.com/classified_ ... +L-5G.html

That is one cool Stinson. A definite one man show!