When emergencies happen, the minutes matter. For first responders, being able to access the necessary air medical equipment to navigate in life-threatening situations is imperative.
HEMS operations provide fast response for critical situations, often in scenarios which are inaccessible to ground transportation responders.
Here we take a look at the Bell 429 role specific HEMS interior kits.
What is HEMS?
HEMS stands for Helicopter Emergency Medical Service. It is a type of air medical service that uses helicopters to provide emergency medical care to patients.
HEMS teams are typically made up of a pilot, a nurse, and a paramedic. They are equipped with a variety of medical supplies and equipment, including defibrillators, ventilators, and IV pumps.
HEMS teams can be used to transport patients to hospitals, provide medical care at the scene of an accident, and assist in search and rescue operations.
They are often used in areas that are difficult to access by ground transportation, such as mountains, forests, and rural areas.
HEMS is a valuable resource for providing rapid and critical care to patients. It can help to save lives and improve outcomes for patients with serious injuries or illnesses.
Some of the key benefits of HEMS include:
- Speed: HEMS can transport patients to hospitals much faster than ground transportation. This can be critical in cases of life-threatening injuries or illnesses.
- Access: HEMS can access areas that are difficult to reach by ground transportation. This is important for patients who are injured or ill in remote areas.
- Expertise: HEMS teams are highly trained and equipped to provide emergency medical care. This can help to improve outcomes for patients.
Bell 429 HEMS kits
For many years, Bell has teamed with Med-Pac, Inc., United RotorCraft, AEROLITE, and Spectrum Aeromed to provide HEMS interior kits that are tailored to the Bell 429.
As leading designers and manufacturers of air medical interior equipment, each kit provides customers with customized solutions for their individual air medical needs.
“What makes the Bell 429 interior kits advanced are its lightweight and wide-spaced components, allowing for EMS-operators to perform a wide variety of medical operations with ease,” said Steve Soliz, segment manager, Bell.
“The Bell 429 combines one of the fastest light twin EMS aircraft with industry-leading interior kits, making it the chosen aircraft for air medical transport.”
Air St. Lukes’ AEROLITE Interior
“Not only does the Bell 429 and AEROLITE interior kit allow us to easily sideload our patients into the aircraft, but the equipment abroad is lightweight and easy to use. For our rural EMS groups, having a spacious interior kit means that we can provide lifesaving care to more than one patient at a time,” said Jeff Galloway, chief pilot, Idaho Helicopters.
“We proudly maintain our configured empty weight of the Bell 429s at around 4,713 pounds, without 110-pound air conditioning units, which gets us a useable payload of over 1,800 pounds.”
Life Flight Network’s Spectrum Aeromed Interior
“With the expansive patient care cabin, our clinical teams can perform comprehensive ICU-level care to our patient in-flight,” said Brian Rogge, director of clinical services, Life Flight Network.
“It also affords us the opportunity to easily bring a third crew member that provides a great advantage for both training and specialty teams that may benefit from additional medical crew.”
“We consider the Bell 429 to be one of the most advanced air ambulance helicopters in the Pacific Northwest.”
Air Methods’ United RotorCraft Interior
“The Bell 429 with the United Rotorcraft interior kit is one of the best aircraft out there to complete the air medical mission,” said William Kelly Miller, vice president of clinical services, Air Methods.
“Being able to fully customize our light-weight interior has allowed us to design a cabin that not only works well for our air medical crew members, but also includes all the medical equipment we need in-flight.”
Totalling more than 500,00 flight hours and with 430 Bell 429s in operation across the globe, the Bell 429 is known in the HEMS field as one of the most reliable and durable aircraft in the market.
