ITD maintenance prepares for air ambulance need

(Note: ITD’s District 6 office held a similar training last October, with 60-70 attendees. The photos are from that training – it was too windy for the helicopter to land in Lowman for the April 13 LZO training, so the course was taught as a classroom-style offering.)

ITD’s maintenance crews are often the first – and in rural areas, sometimes the only - responders to incidents requiring an air ambulance.

In those cases, ITD is called on to establish designated “Landing Zones” on or near highways to facilitate a rescue. D3 crews routinely provide traffic control, and sometimes landing assistance for these inbound helicopters.

Several maintenance workers attended the half-day training in Lowman April 13 put on by Air St. Luke’s.

D-3 Maintenance Coordinator Dan Bryant said the training allowed maintenance forces to understand what to expect when other agencies are landing helicopters on ITD right of way. They also learn the dangers inherent to these operations, like the slicing power of helicopter tail rotors. 

Janet Gregory, maintenance operations manager, took the training to enhance her first-person perspective on maintenance operations.

Bryant recalled a similar training seven or eight years ago, also put on in District 3. Bryant said it is a rarity for air-ambulance services to ask non-EMS people to be trained to control the landing zone.

The emergency personnel in attendance were thankful for ITD’s participation.

 “It is commendable that ITD is committed to helping in times of emergencies,” said Gretchen Sherlin, another training attendee and a Lowman-area EMT by trade.

“It makes sense because ITD has the ability and skill to stop traffic, is constantly on the highways and interstate, and has radio capability to contact State Communications or activate an alert system,” she explained.

“We are so pleased that ITD has become a ‘partner’ in air medical helicopter safety.  We EMS personnel are often short-handed in the rural/remote areas of Idaho and have only a driver and EMT on the scene.  This leaves us with no Landing Zone Officer,” Sherlin added. 

The Landing Zone Officer (LZO) is usually selected or appointed by the EMT crew on the scene, Sherlin said. Sometime it is the person who is closest to a possible landing zone, although anyone who has taken the LZO training course may be the LZO.
 
“The safety of the air medical helicopter crews and the EMS personnel on the ground is the major priority when air-ambulance assistance is requested,” she added.  
 
The Landing Zone Officer identifies a suitable landing zone that is at least 100-feet by 100-feet, relatively flat and free of debris, wild animals, spectators, power lines, tall sign posts, fences, and other obstacles. The LZO often provides the GPS coordinates and local weather conditions to State Communications or the pilot. 

When the helicopter is approximately five minutes from landing, the LZO communicates with the pilot on a specified radio frequency to provide pertinent information to the pilot such as potential hazards, slope of the landing zone, and wind direction and speed. 

Published 6-14-13