Inside This Issue - Arrive Alive

FEATUREACTION SHOT OF THE MONTH ...Dr Dan Nevin, Netcare 911's Principal Medical Officer (middle) hands over the injured child to Dr Walter de Rover(HEMS Doctor) whilst Nick Nevin (Paramedic ) carries her to the running helicopter.Incident Press ReleaseAt approximately 13h50 today, Sunday 28 January 2007, Netcare 911 responded to a report that two pedestrians had been struck by acar in the intersection of William Nicol and Mattie roads in Sandton, Johannesburg.According to eye witnesses the driver of the blue Mercedes swerved to avoid a mini bus taxi that did a U-turn in the intersection. The carthen mounted the middle island and collided with a mother , her baby and another pregnant woman. The car came to rest on the oppositeside of William Nicol facing on coming traffic. The alleged taxi was not involved in the collision and did not stop at the scene.Paramedics arrived on the scene to find two victims on the middle island - they were the mother and her baby daughter. The baby wasvery small and approximately one year old. Both of these victims were in a critical condition and they were intubated and manually ventilatedby the doctor and paramedics on the scene. The third victim was a pregnant female - she was critical but stable and lying next tothe car that had struck her about 20 - 30 meters away from her friend. The third victim was transported by ambulance from the provincialservices to the Johannesburg hospital - it is unclear if her unborn child was injured as a result of the incident.The first adult victim was airlifted by the Netcare 911 emergency air ambulance to the Johannesburg hospital. The helicopter then returnedand transported the baby girl to the Johannesburg hospital. The driver and passenger of the car were not injured in the collision .The intersection of William Nicol and Mattie was closed to traffic for about ten minutes on two occasions to allow the helicopter to la ndsafely in the road.All three lanes of William Nicol travelling from Hurlingham towards Sandton were closed to traffic for approximately 90 minutes and twolanes were closed travelling towards Hurlingham. Mattie road was closed to all traffic for the duration of the incident.Picture and press release courtesy of Nick DollmanHEMS8

SURF RESCUEVodacom Netcare 911 Surf RescueThursday, 1 February 2007 - You’re on thebeach when you suddenly realise that there’ssomeone in the surf, just out of reach, who is indistress. Or you’re out surfing with your buddieswhen a shark springs an unwelcome and unfortunatesurprise. You could even just be out fishingwhen a freak wave overturns the boat nearby.Whatever the circumstances, when you’re on theseashore and help is needed fast, the number tocall is 082 911. Because dialling this number willunleash a quick, well-oiled rescue machine in theform of Netcare 911 paramedics, the National SeaRescue Institute (NSRI) and Surf Lifesaving SA.Should the distress call come over a weekend or thesummer holidays, chances are that the cavalry willarrive by helicopter – a Vodacom Netcare 911 SeaRescue helicopter.Netcare 911 and Vodacom have, for the secondsummer holiday season, sponsored five helicoptersfor use by the NSRI and Surf Lifesaving SA, at thecoastal centres of Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth,George and Margate. This past season, for theperiod of 9 December to 14 January, each of thesehelicopters were allocated 74 hours of flight time inorder to conduct rescue missions and coastal patrols.One such a daily two-hour long patrol, for instance,just recently came to the rescue of 47-year oldsurfer, George Hauptfleisch, who suffered a heartattack while surfing at Pollok Beach in Port Elizabeth.The PE-based Vodacom Netcare 911 Sea Rescuehelicopter was just on its way back from a beachpatrol when it spotted the commotion on PollokBeach, caused by the attempts of the on-duty lifeguardsand fellow-surfer Dr George Brummer toresuscitate Hauptfleisch.“His fellow surfers brought him out of the water andthey were met in the surf by the lifesavers, whoimmediately started with CPR until Dr Brummerjoined them,” says Elgin Magnus, spokesperson forNetcare 911. “Unfortunately, when we reachedHauptfleisch he was not breathing at all, had nopulse and was in dire need of emergency medicalassistance.”According to newspaper reports about the incident,a lifesaver on the scene was quoted as saying that,while the rescue was an all-round excellent job, theVodacom Netcare 911 Sea Rescue helicopter madeall the difference.“We could administer oxygen and stabilise Hauptfleisch before we rushed him toNetcare Greenacres Hospital. He was released from hospital a week later,” saysGavin Riddle, the NSRI agent on board of the Vodacom Netcare 911 Sea Rescuehelicopter that saved Hauptfleisch’s life that day.Riddle formed one of four crewmembers who would typically man the VodacomNetcare 911 Sea Rescue helicopter on any given day. The rest of the crew wouldconsist of a pilot, a Netcare 911 paramedic and a jumper/diver/swimmer from SurfLivesaving SA. In Hauptfleisch’s case, these crewmembers were Mike Reid, RichardPotgieter and Marcus Ashry respectively.While the Vodacom Netcare 911 Sea Rescue helicopter is dispatched for any surfrelateddrowning- or emergency situation, it can, unfortunately, only be sent outshould circumstances permit it. Elgin explains these circumstances: “Firstly, thereshould be a helicopter available in the area. While the main centres such as Durbanand Cape Town has a helicopter at the ready over weekends almost right throughthe warmer seasons, areas such as Port Elizabeth, George and Margate only haveuse of such a helicopter during the summer holiday season. In addition, we can onlyfly during daytime (from first light to 19:00), and then only if weather permits. If it israiny or there are wind speeds of between 40 and 45 knots, the helicopters can’t bedispatched.”Should it not be possible to dispatch a helicopter, the Netcare 911 call centre, whichreceives the distress call, immediately alerts the NSRI, who will arrive from the closestNSRI centre by boat.The important information one should remember when calling for help is, firstly, theemergency number of 082 911. The more information one can provide the Netcare911 emergency operator, the better equipped and speedier the rescue mission cantake place. Always provide the operator with your contact number and, if possible,another telephone number on the scene. It also helps to explain from the start thatthe call is about a sea rescue emergency.“Whether the Vodacom Netcare 911 Sea Rescue helicopter is able to come to yourrescue or not, it is good to know that there are these emergency services availablefor everyone who might need them, especially during the summer holidays whenour coastline is teeming with holiday goers. George Hauptfleisch is but one exampleof the many success stories the Vodacom Netcare 911 Sea Rescue team has to tell,”concludes Elgin.HEMS9

NEWS DESKFarewell Renee ...At the end of February we bid farewell to Renee Brindeau – one of the KwaZulu NatalHEMS Pilots. Renee is relocating to Canada and will be employed by Canadian Helicopters,who employ 650 pilots to fly 134 helicopters of varying sizes. They are involvedin Emergency Medical Services, Forestry, Mining and Oil and Gas exploration. Reneehopes to eventually fly a EMS helicopter for them.IN THE NEXT ISSUEKZN 105“I’m going to miss Durban and the Helicopter EmergencyMedical Service terribly. It has been an awesomeplace to work and because of the people I haveworked with, I can confidently say it’s the best job I’veever had!” Renee comments.We’re goi ng to miss you Renee and wish you all thebest for the future. May all your dreams come true.Surf RescueCase ReviewMeet The Team cont...HEMS WINGSUnder the stewardship of Doctor Fanie Hattingh, Netcare 911 Helicopter EmergencyMedical Services will be introducing new HEMS badges to all qualified flight crew fulfillingduties on our service. The badge consist of two wings with a image of the BO105in the middle. Unlike pilot wings which are color coded to represent total flight time, onour badges the right wing will be colour coded to represent the number of HEMS missionsthat the individual has completed. A white wing represents less than 50 missions,silver 50 to 99 missions and gold, greater than 100 missions.HEMSEditorWayne ThomsonContributorsGary BerkowitzAB BezuidenhourLynn BothaDawn CarverNick DollmanDave FennelPetro LowiesNorman LudickShaun PaulLaurel ReynekeAlan StroudPicturesChris BothaNick DollmanJacques PienaarNetcare 911 House49 New RoadMidrand1685Netcare 911 (Pty ) LtdP.O. Box 4569Half way House1685Telephone: +27 (0) 11 254 1392Fax: +27 (0) 86 520 2803Email:Website:hemsnewsletter@netcare.co.zawww.netcare911.co.zaNETCARE 911 HELICOPTER OPERATIONS + 27 (0)11 254 1555Please note:To unsubscribe please reply with ‘REMOVE’ in the subject line.HEMS10