I am hearing letters have been sent to Bush medical folks reminding them that once the threshold for a medivac flight has been reached they should call just the one time. Pilots and crew are not told the nature of the problem or who is involved, ie, women, children, etc. As it can put pressure on them to attempt things the weather will not allow. Obviously they have clues, but they do not want them making worse decisions due to the nature of the problem...
Very sad...
I'm not seeing how that is feasible.
When I flew medevac out of Bethel years ago, we got all of the patient information and condition for a good reason... We needed to prep the aircraft with the correct equipment. Also, the medics needed what to be ready for, much like information given to any ambulance called to a medical emergency on the road.
We had patients that attempted suicide with medication... we needed to know what medication so that the medics could bring the right treatment
Another was a premature birth- we needed to bring an incubator.
There was a boat accident with a very large man who exceeded the hoist capacity of our helicopter (when added to hoist rider and gear) We needed to be prepared to rig a short-haul using ropes ahead of the launch (takes 2 minutes on ground to rig, but not the kind of gear we would carry all the time on the aircraft).
Many other examples, but you get the gist.
