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Air Dispatcher Training Should Make EMS Flights Safer

Air Safety Week, April 24, 2006

More dispatchers for airborne "medivac" services could come to resemble air traffic controllers rather than your typical 911 dispatchers, thanks to new training.

One training curriculum has been designed by Allen Zon, director of operations for the EagleMed air ambulance service, which operates in Kansas and in some neighboring states. The new training program is under Part 135, and will soon be available on a quarterly basis to anyone who comes to the company's home base in Wichita. The curriculum, which touches on a variety of topics including aerodynamics, aircraft systems, navigation, weather, flight planning and flight following, resembles a private pilot ground-school course.

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The course is also designed to bring such dispatchers up to date on several recent technological advancements that help with in-flight safety. This will include the use of the latest in navigational tracking and satellite communications, visual displays, and terrain and obstacle awareness systems, Zon tells Air Safety Week. But while some of the technology has been available for a while, the ability to use it hasn't.

Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have become increasingly concerned with flight crew safety during airborne emergency medical service (EMS) operations (Air Safety Week, Feb. 6), whether they involve helicopters or fixed-wing craft. Both agencies also have recommended tightening the regulations that apply to such flights, including better dispatcher training. The FAA's recommendations in particular, as reflected in bulletin no. HBAT 06-02 on Jan. 23, include a 30-point outline for such training. Zon says his course entails all of FAA's points. It's also an important point to know that while FAA has approved this particular class, it has not specifically required this or any similar training. Zon, of course, hopes it does.

NTSB says that between January 2002 and January 2005, 55 EMS aircraft accidents occurred in the United States, resulting in 54 fatalities and 18 serious injuries. Not only are total EMS flight hours increasing, but the accident rate has also been increasing from 3.53 accidents per 100,000 flight hours annually through the 1990s to 4.56 accidents each year from 1997 to 2001.

In two recent cases that Zon cites, crashes were only first noticed hours after they occurred. In one case, officials first became aware of the accident when the next pilot walked out on the airfield in the morning to try to find the craft. In another instance the occurred last fall, a craft wasn't missed until it was assigned for another flight.

The problem for EMS dispatchers, now usually known as "communication specialists," is related to how their jobs have evolved through the years, Zon adds. The traditional ground-based ambulance dispatcher has always primarily come from a medical-education background. But as airborne services grew, dispatching for those services was naturally added to their job descriptions. Until recently, there hasn't been much awareness that they need some aviation training, as well, to ensure the safety of these flights.

That's one of the points NTSB also made in its Feb. 7 safety recommendation letter. "Currently, most Part 135 EMS operations specifications permit the pilot to be notified of an assignment by the local 911 dispatch system or emergency hospital staff, yet 911 dispatch or hospital staff do not have expertise in or an understanding of the requirements of flight or landing procedures, particularly at night or in adverse conditions." In many cases, EMS pilots have been on their own to get information about routes, landing operations, and weather. Nor have dispatchers been required to provide such information.

Some dispatchers have simply turned on the TV or radio for weather reports and communicated this information to pilots, but that information has not systemically tied into the flight data, Zon says.

Also, many pilots have relied on calling in their coordinates at regular intervals to update their positions. "Many services still utilize a VFR sectional and manual position plotting to determine and aircraft's position as their primary means of aircraft tracking," Zon says. Aircraft have flown off- course because of transmission and information errors. Flight following procedures and the verification of whether craft have landed safety have been limited to what can be done over radios and cell phones.

In Wichita, not only will communication specialists or dispatchers get the training to become AAFCs, but they will have the technological support as well. To this end, in fact, Zon has designed an AAFC workstation or control center that resembles what you'd expect to see at an ATC flight services center.

Prior to an EMS craft's departure, the AAFC will see the entire flight plan and accompanying data on weather, flight restrictions, terrain and obstructions along the route. If the flight veers off course, or any kind of situation begins to develop, the pilot and the AAFC will keep each other updated. "The continual flight following is done in a manner reminiscent of air traffic control with visual and aural alerts regarding aircraft position, status, speed, rate of climb or descent, altitude, departure and destination, and actual arrival times based upon true ground speed," he says.

Government Industry

Air Dispatcher Training Should Make EMS Flights Safer

Air Safety Week, April 24, 2006

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