Vic bushwalker dies in rescue gone wrong

[cooee]

An air ambulance was sent after the man injured his leg while bushwalking near Mansfield at about 12.30pm (AEST) on Saturday.

The man fell as he was being winched to safety.

Ambulance Victoria CEO Greg Sassella said in a statement that Ambulance Victoria had immediately suspended winching operations and would assist all investigating authorities.

"Our thoughts and sympathies are with the man's family. We are also providing support to the flight crew and paramedics involved," Mr Sassella said.

[Overlandman]

From ABC News,
Not sure if Macs Cove is in a National Park Area, but not good

A man has died during a helicopter rescue operation in Victoria's north-east this afternoon.

Police say the man was being lifted with a winch into the Ambulance Victoria helicopter near Mansfield when he fell to the ground about 12:30pm AEST.

He was being rescued after he was injured in bushland at Macs Cove.

Police and Work Safe are investigating.

Edit, sorry cooee (Bushwalking Discussion Forum), we were posting around the same time!
(Edit by admin -- Threads now merged)

[wayno]

tragic, thats a pretty rare thing to happen,, wonder what went wrong to cause that? no details , fell out of the strop? assuming he was in a strop and not a basket

[cooee]

wonder what went wrong to cause that? no details , fell out of the strop? assuming he was in a strop and not a basket

Not sure, news is saying the injured man is believed to have been lifted as high as the airborne chopper’s skids when he fell.

[MickyB]

Very sad. Feel for the paramedics as well as the hiker's family.

[perfectlydark]

very sad. hope it wasnt a forum member

[Davidf61]

Very sad, but how on earth does someone fall out of these harness'es?

I work in mining, I'm regularly in various types of harness as part of my job, surely it's not that hard to loop stuff in various ways around body parts so this can't happen.
Even basic fall arrest gear at work will leave you dangling and looking foolish, but you cannot fall out.

Gear failure? Patient panic/struggle? I'll guess we'll find out eventually.

[GPSGuided]

Very sad situation for all involved. Death on a rescuer's watch is the worst that can ever happen to a rescuer. I feel for the team.

[Lizzy]

A very tragic situation. A reminder that any rescue poses risk to both the rescue crew and those being rescued. Another reason why people should only hit the magic button if really needed. (Not implying anything about this particular rescue- referring to other discussions about people calling for rescue in perhaps unnecessary circumstances)

[perfectlydark]

I read this morning the victim was a hunter, not a bushwalker as earlier reported

[GPSGuided]

When hoisting, I thought there's always a rescuer by their side and get hoisted at the same time. No?

[gayet]

From ABC site.

"I understand he was at the door of the helicopter and they were attempting to get him into the helicopter," he said.

Previous readings suggest he was with the rescuer at the door and in attempts to get him in he fell out of the harness or something went amiss with the harness. All points to a harness failure or suchlike at present.....

Still noted as 68 yr old bushwalker on ABC though

[Overlandman]

According to Ten News, the patient weighed more than 140kg and it took a team of SES over an hour and a half to get the body down to the nearest track. A winch may have been a challenge on the deceased's size alone.
ABC News state that Ambulance Victoria have resumed limited winching operations

[dplanet]

Based on 7 News at 6.00pm, he was a deer hunter.

[Snowzone]

According to a local news report tonight, he was winched using a strop which he somehow slipped out of. I feel very sorry for his family and all those involved in the rescue.

[wayno]

you cant help but ponder how much the rescuee's 140kg weight had to play in the dificulty of winching him and getting him into the helicopter... a more difficult situation than the norm....

[GPSGuided]

140kg?!?

[wayno]

140kg?!?

read overlandmans comment from the news

[GPSGuided]

Apparently he was winched up along with a paramedic. So it's not a question on the capacity of the winch but other factors. At 120-140kg with a broken ankle, the poor guy wouldn't have been be too agile.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/investig ... 2szfp.html

[Overlandman]

ABC News Update Also says he was Hunting
Investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau are to interview witnesses to the Victorian rescue accident on Saturday in which a 68-year-old man died.

The man from Sydney fell 30 metres to his death as he was being winched aboard an Ambulance Victoria helicopter after breaking his ankle while hunting.

He was being airlifted from a remote area known as Macs Cove at Lake Eildon, near Mansfield north-east of Melbourne.

The ATSB's Greg Madden says a team of four investigators will interview witnesses.

"The four investigators are in Melbourne conducting interviews, examining the helicopter and the winching equipment and also looking at maintenance records and we're also intending to interview witnesses in the coming days," he said.

"Once we've reviewed and analysed the information, if there are safety lessons that become apparent, we'll certainly advise the regulator along with the industry, the operators in the industry including the helicopter operators that have similar equipment."

He expects a preliminary report to be prepared within a month.

Ambulance Victoria has given the all clear to using some of its helicopter winches after the accident.

All winching operations were suspended immediately after the accident, but the service's chief executive, Greg Sassella, says engineers have confirmed the safety of winches on three of its five helicopters.

"We like to make sure that we check the equipment all the way down to every connector, every strap we use, the winching machine, everything that is mechanical and we've gone through that, or the engineers have gone through that," he said.

Ambulance Victoria says both the winch and the helicopter were more than capable of lifting the patient and the paramedic.

That is a view echoed by Steve McGhie of the Ambulance Employees Association.

He says the man's weight would definitely be an issue in the investigation in terms of the helicopter's capabilities and the distance it had to fly to hospital.

"It's certainly something that has to be taken into consideration," he said.

"I daresay it will be one of the factors in the investigation."

He says the issue is whether or not the equipment fitted correctly and that is relevant whether the person is large or small.

[bumpingbill]

Here's the file from the ATSB: http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/inv ... 3-136.aspx

[bumpingbill]

There's been an update on this (link above)

Initially the winching procedure appeared to proceed normally. The aircrewman reported that the paramedic appeared to have his arms and legs wrapped around the patient, as is the normal procedure. When the paramedic and patient were approximately 30–40 ft above the ground, the aircrewman noticed that they had moved towards the edge of the winch area and close to the upper branches of the trees. The paramedic stated that he came in contact with the branches and had to use both hands to fend off as he came through the tree canopy. The helicopter was moved back and right about 5 ft and the winch continued.

The aircrewman reported that once the paramedic and patient were clear of the canopy, at about 15 ft below the aircraft, he noticed that the patient was moving or wriggling. The aircrewman stopped the winch for a control check, and shortly after resuming the winch noticed that the patient’s arms were not in the usual position in the strop and that the paramedic appeared to be shouting at the patient. The aircrewman elected to continue winching in, and informed the pilot that the patient was slipping.

As the paramedic and patient reached the height of the helicopter’s right skid-landing gear, the paramedic was facing the helicopter and the patient was facing outwards. The paramedic reported attempting to pin the patient against the skid in an attempt to stop him slipping. The aircrewman continued winching until the paramedic’s head was level with the middle of the door opening. At this stage the aircrewman informed the pilot that he could see the patient slipping further. He dropped the winch pendant and reached down, grabbing the patient’s shoulder in an attempt to stop his fall.

The aircrewman stated that by this stage the patient appeared to be unresponsive and limp.

Despite the crew’s efforts, the patient slipped out of the strop and fell to the ground, sustaining fatal injuries.

[GPSGuided]

Very sad. Harness failure?

[wayno]

do they use a harness? sounded like they were just holding onto him in the strop that goes under the arms.

[Travis22]

Sounds like a truly horrible situation and im sure the guys involved will never sleep quite the same again.

I wonder why the patient was unresponsive and limp by the time he reached the chopper - blacked out etc from pain maybe?

Can only assume that a strop must be pretty uncomfortable too for a bigger person.

Travis.

[wayno]

or shock

[cooee]

Terrible.... I feel for the aircrew, watching all that unfold before them.

[wayno]

big respect for the crews. they pull off the impossible time after time, often in incredibly difficult dangerous conditions, so rarely to things go so wrong....

[Overlandman]

From ABC News

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-19/n ... th/5033102

Safety authorities are warning helicopter rescue crews to consider the weight and medical condition of a patient before trying to winch them onboard a chopper.
A 68-year-old Sydney man fell about 30 metres to his death while being winched into an Air Ambulance near Mansfield, in north-east Victoria, in September.
He slipped from a harness while being rescued after breaking his ankle on a hunting trip.
A preliminary Australian Transport Safety Bureau report says the paramedic initially had his arms and legs wrapped around the man but had to let go after he hit tree branches.
After clearing the tree canopy a crew member then noticed the patient wriggling and the winch was stopped for a control check.
Shortly after the winch began again the crew member noticed the patient's arms were not in the usual position and that the paramedic was shouting at him.
The crew decided to continue the winch and told the pilot the patient was slipping.
The report says the crew member tried to grab the patient's shoulder, who was unresponsive and limp, when he reached the chopper but the man slipped out of the harness and fell.

It is believed the man weighed more than 100 kilograms.

All helicopter winching activities were temporarily suspended in the wake of the accident.

[GPSGuided]

big respect for the crews. they pull off the impossible time after time, often in incredibly difficult dangerous conditions, so rarely to things go so wrong....

+1. Sh1t happens even with the best intentions and we just have to learn from it. Feel for the rescue crew as they must be having a terrible time over self-guilt.