[Vision2020] Helicopter Article - Eagle, ID

[Kenneth Marcy]

On Friday 29 February 2008 08:49, Tim Rigsby wrote:
> Tim Rigsby <tim.rigsby at hotmail.com> has sent you the following story:
> http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/310035.html

I suppose if one has not been around, and is not used to, helicopters, they 
can be loud, scary, and intimidating to the point of fear. They do create 
quite a commotion, and without a doubt the neighbors know when one arrives 
or leaves a helipad nearby. From personal experience I know this because my 
parents' home is a long block and a half from the Boundary County Community 
Hospital, with its helipad on the side of the building away from the house.

On the other hand, it is comforting to know that if a patient arrives at the 
hospital in a condition that the hospital staff and the local doctors are 
not able to handle, a medical evacuation helicopter is available to take 
the patient to better-equipped and more highly-staffed hospitals in 
Spokane. It's not a daily, and often not even a weekly event, but local 
residents are very aware of local helicopter activity, not because they 
find it fearful or annoying, but because they wonder who is aboard it this 
time.

If the local hospital has a helipad, it might be a good idea to have some 
pre-announced practice landings and take-offs as staff and community 
personnel drills, not to mention awareness raising for local residents.


Ken