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Sqn Ldr MD Sharma Ejections are associated with a significant possibility of spinal injuries. Therefore it is essential that an ejected pilot be immobilised at the landing site itself and transferred to a hospital with minimal handling so as to prevent any deterioration in his condition and to prevent any subsequent complications. However, to expedite the rescue proceedings, many a times, these pilots are brought to the SMC/hospitals in a friend’s car or motorbike. This well-intentioned action can have disastrous consequences for the injured pilot. It happened at our station once. The Institute of Flight Safety team was carrying out a practice inspection of our station and I was chosen to attend to any emergency that might require medical attendance. 16 Aerospace Safety F e b r u a r y 2 0 12 INDIAN AIR FORCE
Surely enough, an on-base crash was simulated and the knight in shining armour with a stethoscope around his neck was called upon to attend to two aircrew who had ejected. Answering the call of duty, I reached the ‘crash’ site and found two ‘pilots’ lying face down and a horde of people watching every action of mine. Not one given to stage fright, I turned the ‘ejected pilot over, applied the cervical collars, scooped them up in scoop stretchers and strapped them down on spinal board stretchers. Just as I started feeling good about a job well done, lo! Horror of horrors! An officer from our station drove up to the ambulance and opened the rear door of his car. What happened next was nothing short of a comedy of errors. He pointed to the rear seat and told me, “ I have an ejected pilot on the back seat. Evacuate him to the hospital!” Without batting an eyelid, I grabbed an innocent bystander airman; put him in the car’s rear seat, promptly put him on the stretcher with a cervical collar and loaded the stretcher on to the ambulance. Job done; story over! Or is it If one analyses the sequence of events, it was apparent that the ‘friend’ had no clue about what he was doing. The golden rule of evacuating an ejected aircrew is - Suspect spinal injury until proved otherwise and act accordingly. In such a situation, the last thing a doctor wants to see is the aircrew being brought to the hospital or SMC in a car, or even worse, a motorbike by an over-enthusiastic comrade rather than in an ambulance. However, in this particular case, this was precisely what had happened. Countless articles have been written in this regard and the issue has been discussed ‘ad nauseam’ in various forums. However, such episodes still occur with alarming regularity. Why is it that despite considerable effort, ejected aircrew still arrive at the SMC/hospitals in cars or motorbikes There is an emergent need to sensitize our flying men and the medical men about the potentially catastrophic ramifications of such actions. In case of an ejection, the human spine is subjected to a considerable amount of force with a very high onset rate within a very short span of time. This, combined with the fact that the aircrew’s posture at the time of ejection might have been less than perfect, raises the distinct possibility of him having sustained a spinal injury. In such a situation, it is imperative that the spine be stabilised and movement restricted to a minimum before evacuating the pilot to the SMC/hospital. This not only stabilises the spine in case of a fracture, but also prevents further deterioration of the pilot’s condition which may result from unnecessary and completely avoidable movement. Carrying an ejected aircrew in a car or motorbike might sound like a good idea, especially if the pilot seems to be apparently alright and is walking and talking. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Given the fact that the guy just got his spine hammered along the long axis, allowance should always be made for an outside chance of a spinal injury. Even if he claims to be fine and is in high spirits, there might be an overt injury lurking underneath, which might be diagnosed later on MRI. At that moment, he needs to lie down, be immobilised so as to restrict spinal movement to a minimum and evacuated to the hospital. Sitting in a car or on a motorbike may aggravate the damage which might have far reaching consequences on the ejected aircrew’s flying career. The car might be air conditioned and very comfortable; but by giving a lift to the ejected aircrew, the well intentioned, over-enthusiastic comrade may end up doing more damage than good. -Sqn Ldr MD Sharma INDIAN AIR FORCE 2 0 1 2 F e b r u a r y Aerospace Safety 17
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