Lives are at stake

Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

Accidents over the past several years that have killed and injured patients and crew members have drawn attention to the medical helicopter industry. The Washington Post, for example, published a lengthy investigative story last month about the industry’s worsening safety record and its sparse oversight by federal regulators.

Now it appears that more oversight and new regulations governing the industry are on the horizon.

The National Transportation Safety Board met this week and recommended numerous changes in how medical helicopter companies are managed and in the way the helicopters are equipped.

Four recommendations the safety board made to the Federal Aviation Administration in 2006 resulted in only one being adopted. But the publicity generated by medical helicopter accidents — 35 people were killed in nine crashes from December 2007 to October 2008 — means it is likely now that the board’s recommendations will be taken more seriously.

One recommendation, offered to both the FAA and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is intended to inspire managers of medical helicopter companies to act swiftly on safety. It would rely on the age-old practice of using money as an incentive — no flight would receive reimbursement from Medicare unless the company was fully abiding by accredited federal safety standards.

As Medicare shells out about $220 million a year for helicopter flights that pick up patients from accident scenes, or transport them from one hospital to another, that could be a lifesaving recommendation.

Other recommendations by the safety board include heightened pilot training and adding equipment to medical helicopters, including collision-avoidance instruments, flight data recorders, night vision goggles, terrain warning systems and autopilot modes.

The safety board also suggested that medical helicopter companies be considered for higher Medicare reimbursement rates to compensate for the extra costs they will incur in adding the recommended safety features.

Administrators with the FAA and Medicare should adopt the safety board’s recommendations. The medical helicopter industry is growing fast, and without major safety changes, tragic accidents involving patients and crews will only increase.