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Feature Story
The air ambulance has transformed ability of helicopters to fly and navigate to use Leonardo’s AW139 for that
health care systems, saving lives by in all types of weather, notes Quocchini. mission.
speeding up the transit of emergency “If the hospital is open all the time, Another factor driving the move
patients to hospitals, but also reaching then the helicopter should be available toward larger types is that patients are
them in places too remote or difficult to all the time, too,” he says. becoming both taller and heavier.
access by road. Enhanced vision systems, night- Critical to turning the EMS into a
But air ambulance service also has vision goggle compatibility and flying hospital will be the interior layout
its limitations. helicopter terrain awareness warning of the aircraft, notes Quocchini. Large
In most civilian EMS operations, use systems are increasingly becoming cabins provide more space for doctors
of helicopters is about speed, getting standard rotary-wing equipment to to perform procedures on patients.
emergency medical providers to the support safer all-weather operation, On some air ambulance helicopters,
scene of an incident as fast as possible, particularly at night. Leonardo is also patients are pushed up against a door,
stabilizing the patient on-site and then developing a 3D version of its Obstacle or positioned with their legs in the rear
flying them back to the hospital. Little or Proximity Lidar System (OPLS), which fuselage so they can be loaded and
no treatment is usually provided while provides aural and visual warnings unloaded through clamshell doors
the patient is in flight. of obstacles near the blades of the under the tail boom.
Rotary-wing flight is not exactly helicopter, enabling landings in more “Doctors want to be able to provide
conducive to treatment, as there is confined spaces. basic surgical intervention in flight,”
much vibration, noise makes it hard Developments in performance- says Quocchini. Such interventions,
to communicate and the small size of based navigation have also improved he says, could involve anything from
cabins in some helicopters can make it the capabilities of helicopters, but stitching of wounds to stop bleeding to
difficult to work on the patient, especially when crews need to pinpoint the exact intubation (as in a tracheotomy) and
when bulky medical equipment is location of an injured patient, one way performing heart massages.
onboard. to do that may involve tracking the With the right configuration, it may
But Leonardo believes the right location of a person’s cellphone. Such also be possible to provide so-called
technologies could allow significant technology has already been developed ECMO treatments in-flight, a process of
medical procedures to be performed for use by Norway’s search-and-rescue oxygenating the blood when the heart
in-flight, adding time to the so-called helicopters for government missions. and lungs are not functioning well, he
Golden Hour, the period after a traumatic The company is also working to says.
incident when prompt medical treatment develop a full deicing system for its Leonardo has already begun to
can prevent death. AW169 intermediate-light twin-engine study the use of an onboard wireless
Over the last two years, Leonardo helicopter to meet a Rega Swiss Air internet router to link medical devices
has been working with Siaarti—the Ambulance requirement. The first onboard without the need to trail wires
Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, AW169 for Rega is due for delivery in around the cabin.
Resuscitation and Intensive Care— 2020. Emanuele Bufano, HEMS technology
on the publication of guidelines for Leonardo is also in the process of specialist at Leonardo, says a direct
helicopter EMS (HEMS) operations. certifying its AW119Kx helicopter for real-time link to the hospital will also
The company is also working with single-engine instrument flight rules be critical so that patient data can
AAROI-EMAC, an Italian association of to meet the specifications for the be monitored not only in the air, but
resuscitation and emergency medical U.S. Navy’s helicopter trainer. Such a also by the doctors who will receive
anesthetists, to develop courses for capability will also likely be desired in the patient on the ground. Such a link
HEMS doctors and nurses. This has the U.S. for EMS missions. would also allow specialist doctors to
also attracted the interest of several Smoother flight could become provide advice to medical personnel in
operators and associations in Australia, possible with the company’s work on the aircraft. Another idea being studied
Europe and the U.S. active main rotor blades and electric is the use of helmet-mounted displays
In addition to working on its Future tail rotors. so that doctors have patient data
HEMS concepts, the company is The marketplace for EMS helicopters accessible in front of them throughout
developing its Helicopter Rescue and is also evolving, with operators taking the flight.
Operational System (HEROS) training on increasingly larger aircraft for the The company has also tested
facility, which will support both rescue mission. While most EMS helicopters stretchers with anti-vibration systems
and medical training courses. in the U.S. are small single-engine built in, to improve comfort for patients
“The earlier you can provide types, specialist medical centers have with spinal injuries.
lifesaving care to the patient, the more purchased larger models, including There are also proposals to see
chance you have of reducing permanent Airbus H155 twin-engine medium whether computed tomography scanner
damage to the patients and saving helicopters for medical transfers, technology can be miniaturized or
lives,” says Massimo Quocchini, the particularly suited for babies in bulky adapted for use on an EMS helicopter.
company’s head of HEMS marketing. incubators. Operators in Australia, Courtesy Aviation Week
Technology is already changing the Canada and China are using or planning

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