what are they doing now?

[pilatus]

now that the air corps is not involved in SAR anymore what are the heli's being used for?of the 12light heli's how many are operating out of army bases throughout the country if any at all?finner camp used to be home for a dauphin and an AIII but the dauphin was used for SAR i ask this because the dauphin was moved back down to the Don and the AIII was supposed to stay,but in the last 2weeks i have seen the dauphin fly over letterkenny 3times and have not seen the AIII over letterkenny now since last year.have the corps switched the heli's around bringin the AIII back down and sendin the dauphin back up to donegal?

[Bigwillie]

The Dauphin that you saw over Letterkenny during the week was on a neo-natal Air Ambulance transfer from Letterkenny Hospital to Dublin. The Dauphin is specially modified to carry the specialist incubator equipment. The Air Corps Dauphins provide a national neo-natal Air Ambulance service with a response time of 1 hour or less to any hospital in the country. The Air Corps is the only organisation to provide this service. It will be interesting to see what happens to this service when the Dauphins are retired in the Summer.

[pilatus]

thanks Bigwillie!wat bout the heli fleet is it all in dublin?

[IAS]

Bigwillie,

Is it official that the Dauphins will go in the Summer?

IAS

[Bigwillie]

Yes, the Air Corps entire heli fleet is Baldonnel based. Apart from the S-61 which is still in Sligo. As far as I am aware, the Dauphin retirement in July/August is definite (for the time being at least!)

[Bitch]

Hi Bigwillie,
For your info the Aer Chor are not the only service capapable of Neo-Natal transfers, the private company that runs the countrys SAR ops also have carried out many of the same ops.

The Bitch

[Bigwillie]

OK then. The Air Corps are the only organisation that will not charge the Health Board several thousand euros for carrying out each individual request. Conversely, a Private company (whose contract is for SAR only) will and does charge for this service as this mission is not covered by the terms of their contract. So yes, the incubator will go into the back of an S-61, but which option seems more attractive?
You say this private company has carried out many of the same ops? I would beg to differ. The incubator set-up in use was designed by Air Corps personnel in conjunction with the Neo-natal services. The only S-61 that I know which has carried this equipment, on this type of mission, for the neo-natal transfer service and for free, is the Air Corps S-61.

[pilatus]

actually big willie the contracted s-61's have carried out the air ambulance missions in the past.i remember seeing them land at letterkenny general hospital before the corps got their s-61.there was even a new heli pad built behind the hospital to allow the bigger s-61 to land safely the dauphins and a111's always used to land in front of the hospital on a half acre green site but the s-61 was two to big to attempt a landing,and with the retirement of the dauphins and the return of the sikorsky they will be carrying them out more often. '>

[Bigwillie]

I am not saying that civilian S-61's don't carry-out Air Ambulance. If you read my previous messages, you should see that what I am referring to is NEONATAL AIR AMBULANCE SERVICE which uses specialist incubator equipment. The Air Corps provides this service with no cost to the Health Depts.
I do not want to get into a debate over SAR, Air Ambulance etc. etc. All I mentioned specifically is the NATIONAL NEO-NATAL AIR AMBULANCE SERVICE.

[p.diddy.cool]

hi bigwille,

after a good while the dauphins where fitted out for the neo nat incubator, it involves putting in the metal floor onto the heli floor with tie down points .. belive me it is a tight fit! then a devide is put up between the cockpit and the rear for night flying neo nate tranfers.. cockpit lighting etc.. its alot of work to put the machine in and out! very heavy..., did ppl now that the S 61 that the IAC has is not meant to do neo natal transfers! but it has been doing them...

Recently during a mission the baby being transfered had the be whats called BAGGED! due to a decrease in the level of oxygen that the baby was reciving! it turned out that the the oxygen bottle had either run out or was never turned on!, that baby had a lucky escape!...

regards P.D.C.