Friday, August 24, 2007
** Hard air ambulance landing injures Kansas crew
** Australian ambulance boss institutes hospital ban
UNITED STATES NEWS
** A Wednesday mishap involving a Kansas air ambulance resulted in three crew members being listed in fair condition in a Wichita hospital. Aero-News Network (August 23) said the accident, which saw the chopper blow into some power lines, ended with the MidWest LifeTeam Bell 206B-L4 aircraft making a hard landing at a car accident scene. Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Ronald Knoefel said winds were gusting at about 40 mph at the time. Crew members included flight paramedic Jeffrey D. Luck, pilot Richard L. Schneider, and Flight Nurse Teresa K. Pearson.
AUSTRALIA NEWS
** The head of Australia’s New South Wales Ambulance Service has ordered a ban on taking patients to a private Sydney hospital, after an EMS diversion was declared earlier this month. The Sydney Morning Herald (Natash Wallace/August 24) said the order, issued by Greg Rochford, is being backed by Health Minister Reba Meagher. According to the newspaper, Rochford issued the directive after an August 14th incident in which the hospital shut its ER department due to one of its doctors being sick. Rochford is apparently continuing to boycott the facility because of patient safety concerns. He said he would not resume directing ambulances to the site until the hospital established some contingency plans to deal with staff shortages. His stand is not sitting well with some observers who say emergency departments will only become more over burdened by taking one out of the loop. A spokesman for Healthscope, meanwhile, which runs the hospital, said the diversion could actually see the emergency department close altogther.
