The air rescue alliance Team DRF has acquired two additional MD 900 Explorer helicopters. Operated by Hubschrauber Sonder Dienst Flugbetriebs (HSD), the first of the helicopters was delivered on July 13, and the second on August 3. Both helicopters officially entered service on October 8.

Kai Scheithauer, accountable manager of HSD told EBAN why the helicopters were chosen. He said: “HSD was looking for a helicopters that are capable of flying both inter-hospital transfer and rescue missions and we had already been operating an MD 900 since 1996.

“That aircraft was stationed at the air rescue base in Hanover with the call sign ‘Christoph Niedersachsen’. It flies intensive care missions in Niedersachsen, Lower Saxony and so far we have carried out more than 4,000 flying hours with that helicopter without a major incident or problem.”

The two MD 900s replace a Bell 222 and a BK 117 which the organisation previously used. Scheithauer explained the thinking behind the change, saying: “The main reason is a reduction from three to two different twin engined helicopter types. This decision saves costs and administrative work. In addition to this, we had good experience with the maintenance structure of our first Explorer. We also hope that we can operate the new helicopters with lower direct operation costs.”

Stationed at the airport Halle/Opin, a small airfield located close to the city of Halle, both MD 900s will be used as intensive care transport helicopters as well as rescue helicopters, with most missions flown from hospital to hospital within the federal state of Sachsen-Anhalt. One of the MD 900s, call sign ‘Christoph Sachsen-Anhalt,’ is available 24 hours a day, all year round. The second helicopter, ‘Christoph Halle,’ is employed Monday to Friday during the day, in case ‘Christoph Sachsen-Anhalt’ is on a mission. Eight pilots, 25 emergency physicians and 15 paramedics are employed at the Team DRF base at Halle, which has been operated by HSD since 1991. Team DRF partners operate out of 43 bases in Germany, Austria and Italy, and in 2003 the organisation flew 32,865 missions, with the the team at Halle flying 1,066 missions.

“The MD 900 concept performs very well at EMS flights. The helicopter has strong engines and a very powerful main rotor system. The NOTAR system performs extremely quietly and gives us a lot of safety during landings in difficult environments and unsecured grounds, such as sports grounds, village greens or streets. The installation of an auxiliary fuel cell means we can get more range. This is probably the sole disadvantage of the MD 900 from our point of view,” said Scheithauer.

“Children’s hospitals are especially enthusiastic about the very low vibrations of the rotor system. Our doctors are satisfied with the enlarged space inside the helicopter because of the wider cabin of the MD 900 compared to the formerly used helicopters, whilst the noise reduction will help with helicopter landings at night time.”

The interiors of the MD 900s consist completely of specialized EMS equipment, including an Oxylog 3000 respirator, monitoring, syringe pumps and a defibrillator, with an incubator for premature babies available at the base. The helicopters are equipped to carry one patient alongside a doctor and a medical assistant. Scheithauer says: “Both aircraft are highly specialised for intensive care missions. The medical equipment is absolutely comparable with an intensive unit in a hospital. HSD specialises in transporting patients in critical condition from hospital to hospital without interrupting the medical therapy.”