Hawker rider
(gold)Member
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2001
- Posts
- 249
I used to do an occasional Air-ambulance trip before but now I started doing it full time, we have had a bunch of flights the last few weeks, but i want your guys' opinion on something.
Afew times ATC actually gave us delay behind an airliner going into some airports, even when we had use of the lifeguard callsign. Sometimes they ask for us to give them a rate of descent that is so rediculous, it is not even funny! We fly Lear20's and with boxes in the back i really don't care about 5000 feet a minute, it's starting to get normal actually. But now we have (mostly) critical patients in the back and the other day we were advising ATc that we could give him2500'/min if he needed it, but not much more. After a hand over we were asked to increase at one point I was doing 4500'/min and that still wasn't enough for them. After advising him again that we were a lifeguard the controller didn't react but when i made clear that the patient couldn't handle 15 degrees nose down he told us to do the best we can do.
Only once when I had a patient in the back and he wasn't really bad, i decided to still file as a lifeguard, but in theremarks told them that we weren't time critical that I as a PIC can expect to follow in line.
Am I so wrong?? It seems that a lifeguard is not given any special consideration anymore by ATC And i don't want it to be my responsibility that anything will happen when they expect me to give them 45 degrees of bank in a turn, even when I advise them of our status.
This morning the tower even let 2 twin props depart in front of us, WHILE we were holding in position on the runway!
Please give me some views on this as I know that a lot of you guys are doing the same work as i do now.
Kind regards,
HR
Afew times ATC actually gave us delay behind an airliner going into some airports, even when we had use of the lifeguard callsign. Sometimes they ask for us to give them a rate of descent that is so rediculous, it is not even funny! We fly Lear20's and with boxes in the back i really don't care about 5000 feet a minute, it's starting to get normal actually. But now we have (mostly) critical patients in the back and the other day we were advising ATc that we could give him2500'/min if he needed it, but not much more. After a hand over we were asked to increase at one point I was doing 4500'/min and that still wasn't enough for them. After advising him again that we were a lifeguard the controller didn't react but when i made clear that the patient couldn't handle 15 degrees nose down he told us to do the best we can do.
Only once when I had a patient in the back and he wasn't really bad, i decided to still file as a lifeguard, but in theremarks told them that we weren't time critical that I as a PIC can expect to follow in line.
Am I so wrong?? It seems that a lifeguard is not given any special consideration anymore by ATC And i don't want it to be my responsibility that anything will happen when they expect me to give them 45 degrees of bank in a turn, even when I advise them of our status.
This morning the tower even let 2 twin props depart in front of us, WHILE we were holding in position on the runway!
Please give me some views on this as I know that a lot of you guys are doing the same work as i do now.
Kind regards,
HR