# Medical emergenceys in remote places **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 15, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745 "2011-03-15T03:45:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/21 "2011-03-15T15:49:19Z")
I saw a medical emergency lifted off a cruise ship on rough seas. The helicopter first lowered down a paramedic, who evaluated the patient, next they lowered a basket for the patient. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/22 "2011-03-15T15:52:46Z")
I also know a guy who was shot in the face by a shotgun wielding hunter. The shooter ran. The victim, blinded, stumbled through the woods for a long time. He eventually heard a tractor and headed toward the sound. He survived, but lost his sight. The shooter was never caught. To answer the OP: You do whatever it takes. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/23 "2011-03-15T22:40:18Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Maybe you heard, they can even do it in war zones! Paging **RandMcNalley** to GQ. I think he may know a thing or two about extracting patients under less than ideal circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/24 "2011-03-15T23:06:47Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Helicopters are not hard to land. It’s like you’re wierdly obsessed that a helicopter won’t be able to land! You just need any flat-ish open-ish space. Like a baseball field, or a fairly wide street. Maybe you heard, they can even do it in war zone! Even if they can’t land there are ways to insert a doctor. In the Air Force they’d drop a PJ down, he’d strap the patient up to a litter and then they’d lift them by hoist and fly out of there. As long as the hoist cable can reach the ground you’ll get out of there. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/25 "2011-03-16T02:42:17Z")
Planes that don’t need a runway, such as DHC\_6 Twin Otters equipped with [floats](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2443/4041867348_16c6da95df.jpg)or [skis](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3209/2364189569_502d1acb4f.jpg)are also often used as Medevac planes, particularly in northern or remote communities. Also, a variety of aircraft are able to land on dirt or grass, and can be used as well, particularly the STOL (short takeoff and landing) planes. I vaguely recall one CL-215/T or CL-415 Bombardier Amphibious being equipped for medical evacuations - possibly in Greece or Italy? - but I can’t seem to find any info on it. Basically any aircraft that can get to an emergency site can be used, and amphibious/water-landing planes are usually used for islands without runways. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/26 "2011-03-16T02:47:08Z")
I was on a Canadian research vessel in the gulf of Alaska, and we had a guy with appendicitis. The USCG sent a helicopter, a guy was lowered to the deck, and he and the patient were winched up. ---
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/27 "2011-03-16T04:15:27Z")
The reason I asked the question is because I like to travel around and I often require the services of an EMS when I travel and I’m thinking about visiting Anderson Island. ---
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/28 "2011-03-16T04:17:03Z")
Then again, I usually need an EMS for heat exhaustion, which I probably wouldn’t need to worry about in Washington… ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/29 "2011-03-16T05:10:41Z")
[You take care of it yourself](http://allbleedingstops.blogspot.com/2011/03/surgeon-performs-self-appendectomy-50.html). ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/30 "2011-03-16T05:57:20Z")
It looks like 20 - 30 miles as the crow flies, and the helicopter has medical personnel on board. The regional trauma center is Harborview Hospital. ---
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/31 "2011-03-16T07:47:47Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > It looks like 20 - 30 miles as the crow flies, and the helicopter has medical personnel on board. The regional trauma center is Harborview Hospital. I don’t need a trauma center, just a hospital so I can lay down and cool off… ---
**Author:** ![rekkah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@rekkah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rekkah)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/32 "2011-03-16T11:36:22Z")
> [@copperwindow](#): > > Then again, I usually need an EMS for heat exhaustion, which I probably wouldn’t need to worry about in Washington… You regularly require emergency services including hospital treatment for heat exxhaustion? Can I suggest that you look into ways of [preventing yourself becoming so ill in the first place](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_illness#Prevention)? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/33 "2011-03-16T13:15:30Z")
I was just on a cruise ship last week were the Coast Guard air evacuated a passenger with a helo. Didn’t even land. Hoisted him up in a basket. ---
**Author:** ![Backcountry\_Medic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Backcountry\_Medic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backcountry_Medic)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/34 "2011-03-16T15:04:59Z")
[Who says you even need a flat space?](http://rockandice.com/videos?task=videodirectlink&id=111) As long as your pilot has balls of steel (combat experience helps) and the shorthaul line will reach you, they can get you out of anywhere. I agree your definition of remote is weaksauce. For me ‘remote’ usually entails a mulit-hour hike to reach an area with radio coverage. Places like that are becoming rare in the lower 48. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/35 "2011-03-16T15:26:01Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Helicopters are not hard to land. It’s like you’re wierdly obsessed that a helicopter won’t be able to land! You just need any flat-ish open-ish space. Like a baseball field, or a fairly wide street. Maybe you heard, they can even do it in war zones! > . And its not like they even need to land. We (I was with the search team) airlifted a patient/hunter out of a forest; the chopper found a spot large enough to drop a basket but too small to land. If we’re ready enough to handle something like that in PA, imagine coastal areas where you may have something like the Coasties handy. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/36 "2011-03-16T15:36:03Z")
> [@Backcountry\_Medic](#): > > [Who says you even need a flat space?](http://rockandice.com/videos?task=videodirectlink&id=111) > > As long as your pilot has balls of steel (combat experience helps) and the shorthaul line will reach you, they can get you out of anywhere. > > I agree your definition of remote is weaksauce. For me ‘remote’ usually entails a mulit-hour hike to reach an area with radio coverage. Places like that are becoming rare in the lower 48. That’s what they did on the cruise ship. While still traveling at 18 knts. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/37 "2011-03-16T16:24:13Z")
> [@copperwindow](#): > > How long would it take for a guy to walk up to a helicopter, turn it on, and fly a helicopter to Anderson Island and figure out someplace to land it? Probably about as long as it would take a guy to walk up to an ambulance, turn it on, and drive to wherever you are. Depending on where you are on the mainland, you’d probably be better off on Anderson Island. There are plenty of places here in the mountains that are half an hour or more from the nearest ambulance, and that’s in good weather. If you fall or otherwise immobilize yourself on one of the trails at [Natural Bridge](http://parks.ky.gov/default.htm) or [Red River Gorge](http://www.redrivergorge.com/), you’re looking at 30 minutes for the nearest ambulance to get to the point they can’t drive any closer, then the EMTs have to come up on 4-wheelers or the sky lift and bring you down the same way, then drive you to nearest spot open enough for the chopper to land. That’s if you’re on the _trail_. If you’ve managed to go over a ledge, getting you out is much worse. People who go over a ledge at the Gorge tend to not make it because of the severity of their injuries and the time involved in getting them out. This is why all the trail maps strongly emphasize how far away medical help is, and how very important it is to not do anything foolish. > [@copperwindow](#): > > Then again, I usually need an EMS for heat exhaustion, which I probably wouldn’t need to worry about in Washington… Speaking of foolishness… Multiple EMS visits for heat exhaustion? Dude, Imma ask you what I ask people who get pregnant within a few months of having a baby–haven’t you figured out what causes that? There are, you know, precautions that can be taken and shit. ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/38 "2011-03-16T18:50:29Z")
> [@copperwindow](#): > > The reason I asked the question is because I like to travel around and I often require the services of an EMS when I travel and I’m thinking about visiting Anderson Island. Looks like they have everything under control there. [http://www.pcfd27.com/home](http://www.pcfd27.com/home) Activating EMS in a rural setting can be a problem almost anywhere in the world.That is something one has to understand before venturing out into the Great Outdoors. One thing I learned from back country Elk hunting is to not give up on your cell phone to fast. It may take several minuets to get your connections made. And any place outside your home area the battery will die much faster especially if you loose signal often. Then there is this emergency device that is available for those recreating out of cell phone coverage, [Spot Messenger](http://international.findmespot.com/) ---
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/39 "2011-03-16T20:40:24Z")
> [@rekkah](#): > > You regularly require emergency services including hospital treatment for heat exxhaustion? Can I suggest that you look into ways of [preventing yourself becoming so ill in the first place](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_illness#Prevention)? Lots of times when it happens is when the weather should be in the 50’s, but ends up being in the 90’s. I can’t stay away from strenuous activities because all I do is bike around (I’m disabled and it’s easier for me do bike than to walk, I really can’t walk at all). [QUOTE=gbro] Looks like they have everything under control there. [http://www.pcfd27.com/home](http://www.pcfd27.com/home) [/QUOTE] Wow, EMT speed boats! I never thought of that! ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745/40 "2011-03-16T20:58:12Z")
Australia famously has its [Royal Flying Doctor Service](http://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/) for the remote outback. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-emergenceys-in-remote-places/574745.md?page=3)