Seaplane Rescue

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by Epic Seaplane Adventures

You all make very great points. All to be taken under advisement.

Oh, did I mention that it would be a volunteer service? So, no cost to the taxpayers.

There are many different possibilities, such as search and rescue operations, think finding lost people...

We are currently working with other states to coordinate and mirror their operations. I think that most of you are making assumptions that this would be a "rescue service".

Things are evolving and we will keep you updated. I made edits to my original post for clarity.

So I have no preconceived notions of what your are offer up here. Over the years I have known many pilots, and even some that have volunteer service in times of crisis.

The service private pilots can often offer up, is minimal, and generally only for searching. As others have stated here, to act as a med flight to bring someone to a hospital, you need to have equipment and room to do so.

They are not going to request a privateer to fly someone involved in any type of medical emergency to Boston or Manchester. 1st of all it would require landing at an air strip, transferring the patient to a helicopter, to then bring them to the hospital.... So any theoretical time that would be saved is lost.

With out a plane of any size to think that on a weekend busy with Boat traffic to think that getting an injured person onto a see plane in the middle of the lake is going to be easier or safer then putting them onto a boat and bring them to the nearest ramp for Ambulance or Med flight is not at all logical.

With that said if you want to gain support for this endeavor, which I applaud you for your desire to help. I have these questions, which really aren't things to simply take under advisement... If you are serious you need to have answer to these types of questions if you want to gain support.

What type of float plane are we talking about?
Beyond having a stretcher what other type of equipment are you considering having?
Has the thought of having to have room for not only a passenger, but also actively work EMTs been considered?

Having personal knowledge of some incidents involving island residences, and emergency services, a sea plane wouldn't have made any difference in how the incidents where handled, and by the time the sea plane would have taken off, injured people where already on board a boat and headed to the mainland for help....

With all that said.... what is Epic Sea Plane Adventures, other then seeing that the name was registered with the state, an instragram account, and knowledge that you are trying for a runway and sea plane base to be declared in 19 mile bay I see no information on the company..... Which makes it incredibly hard to see this as anymore the a publicity ploy to gain some favoritism when it come to getting a runway, and sea plane based established in 19 mile bay. Please note I am not against this, I know people in aviation, I know people that operate an airfield and sea plane base. I don't see any of this as a bad thing.... But right now I am having a hard time justifying what I am seeing as a business venture.....

[MAXUM]

Probably why you also don’t see Medi-vac operators moonlighting as scenic tour operators in their down time.

The state has ample resources available for stuff like this and as seen on north woods law state authorities will leverage national guard assets if need be. I can’t imagine it would be terribly helpful to have a sea plane on hand in most emergency situations and as previously stated with lack of adequate nearby landing facilities, life saving equipment and personnel on board it makes no sense - in fact I doubt you could even get proper liability insurance to do this.

[Jdarby]

Originally Posted by MAXUM

Probably why you also don’t see Medi-vac operators moonlighting as scenic tour operators in their down time.

The state has ample resources available for stuff like this and as seen on north woods law state authorities will leverage national guard assets if need be. I can’t imagine it would be terribly helpful to have a sea plane on hand in most emergency situations and as previously stated with lack of adequate nearby landing facilities, life saving equipment and personnel on board it makes no sense - in fact I doubt you could even get proper liability insurance to do this.

So the MEDEVAC operator I work for actually does have a tour division! We operate tour helicopters in Hawaii and do charter work in Las Vegas. Although, these operations are not co-mingled with our EMS ops. Our EMS pilots have much higher flight hour requirements and training standards.


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[Lakeflier]

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

So I have no preconceived notions of what your are offer up here. Over the years I have known many pilots, and even some that have volunteer service in times of crisis.

The service private pilots can often offer up, is minimal, and generally only for searching. As others have stated here, to act as a med flight to bring someone to a hospital, you need to have equipment and room to do so.

They are not going to request a privateer to fly someone involved in any type of medical emergency to Boston or Manchester. 1st of all it would require landing at an air strip, transferring the patient to a helicopter, to then bring them to the hospital.... So any theoretical time that would be saved is lost.

With out a plane of any size to think that on a weekend busy with Boat traffic to think that getting an injured person onto a see plane in the middle of the lake is going to be easier or safer then putting them onto a boat and bring them to the nearest ramp for Ambulance or Med flight is not at all logical.

With that said if you want to gain support for this endeavor, which I applaud you for your desire to help. I have these questions, which really aren't things to simply take under advisement... If you are serious you need to have answer to these types of questions if you want to gain support.

What type of float plane are we talking about?
Beyond having a stretcher what other type of equipment are you considering having?
Has the thought of having to have room for not only a passenger, but also actively work EMTs been considered?

Having personal knowledge of some incidents involving island residences, and emergency services, a sea plane wouldn't have made any difference in how the incidents where handled, and by the time the sea plane would have taken off, injured people where already on board a boat and headed to the mainland for help....

With all that said.... what is Epic Sea Plane Adventures, other then seeing that the name was registered with the state, an instragram account, and knowledge that you are trying for a runway and sea plane base to be declared in 19 mile bay I see no information on the company..... Which makes it incredibly hard to see this as anymore the a publicity ploy to gain some favoritism when it come to getting a runway, and sea plane based established in 19 mile bay. Please note I am not against this, I know people in aviation, I know people that operate an airfield and sea plane base. I don't see any of this as a bad thing.... But right now I am having a hard time justifying what I am seeing as a business venture.....

I wish I could say I don’t understand where all this animosity comes from, but as the owner pilot of a seaplane I’m afraid I do. Somehow we haven’t gotten past the image of the pilot as a daredevil from the barnstormer age. Nowadays pilots go through rigorous training for licensing, and must undergo recurrent training and meet medical requirements. These days private pilots are well known for providing volunteer assistance in emergencies of all kinds, transporting people, pets and supplies to places larger aircraft can’t reach. Usually they pay their own expenses.

Epic states that the rescue operation would be a volunteer effort. Obviously if he happened to have passengers aboard at the same time that a call for assistance came in, he would have to bring them to a safe discharge point and return to the emergency site. As far as where to bring the emergency victims, an ambulance would have to come to the nearest docking point (or runway if Epic’s plane is an amphibian). Sure it would be better to have a Medevac helicopter with float capability. That’s not what Epic has, so he’s just offering what he does have at no public expense.

He is not going to get rich on this sightseeing venture. No one ever does. He’s giving people a taste of the joy of flying and the beauty of our glorious Lakes Region from the air, and hoping to make a few bucks in the process. I wish him the best.


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[codeman671]

Originally Posted by Lakeflier

Epic states that the rescue operation would be a volunteer effort. Obviously if he happened to have passengers aboard at the same time that a call for assistance came in, he would have to bring them to a safe discharge point and return to the emergency site. As far as where to bring the emergency victims, an ambulance would have to come to the nearest docking point (or runway if Epic’s plane is an amphibian). Sure it would be better to have a Medevac helicopter with float capability. That’s not what Epic has, so he’s just offering what he does have at no public expense.

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Its the fact that the "rescue operation" is a ruse to get people to buy in and approve of the business he is creating in a busy area of the lake.

[Sundancer320]

An Epic smokescreen.