Mr Shaun Willson1
1Babcock MCS Australasia, Adelaide, Australia
Abstract:
During medical retrieval operations in adverse environmental and weather conditions, aircrew are required to make numerous operational decisions to ensure the safety of the aircraft and crew. It is important these decisions are communicated appropriately to the medical crew to ensure they are aware of any operational limitations or constraints that may affect the mission and ultimately the provision of care to the patient.
This presentation utilises a case study of a rotary wing primary trauma response mission in South Australia. It provides an example of the decision-making processes used by aircrew during task acceptance and pre-flight planning, in-flight decision making and on-scene decision making. It will also highlight the types of discussions that need to occur between the aircrew and medical team to determine the best course of action for the patient.
On paper, the case study mission profile appears relatively simple. In reality, the mission was complicated by high ambient temperatures at the incident site, strong headwinds enroute, rapidly developing thunderstorms, a complex incident scene with multiple patients and a transition into night operations.
Biographies:
Shaun Willson served in the Australian Army for 17 years as a helicopter pilot. He was employed in various roles in the Australian Army Aviation Corps and deployed numerous times to Bougainville and to Banda Aceh following the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.
After discharging from the Army, Shaun joined Australian Helicopters (now Babcock) as a pilot on the South Australian State Rescue Helicopter Service (SRHS) contract. In 2017 Shaun made a career change and joined the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service as a full-time firefighter. He continues to fly with Babcock in a part-time capacity as a pilot on the SRHS Contract.