Who Ya Gonna Call?

B2 casts a tiny shadow (bottom center) compared to Lifeflight helicopter

One of the things I lose sleep over at night is concern about low staffing of our Public Safety departments.

For instance very early this morning I was still awake to hear a Northampton ambulance come to Amherst via mutual aid to deal with an overly intoxicated student at Amherst College.

And that's in spite of AFD having four extra on duty staff paid for by UMass.  Because we only have five ambulances and they were all tied up at the time.

But that is in a sense an off seting factor, knowing that when AFD needs assistance to carry out their vital duty fellow EMS professionals from Northampton, Belchertown, South Hadley, etc are there to respond.

And in the case of a major structure fire another half-dozen or more surrounding FDs.

Another gem in the toolbox for Emergency Medical Response is the Lifeflight medivac helicopter operated by UMass Medical Center.  Because like a drone a helicopter can drop in to a small clearing, and then unlike a drone pick up a severely injured patient and safely deliver them to a critical care center in record time.

Note to readers:  I had permission of First Responders at the scene and the pilot of the helicopter to put B2 briefly in the air for a quick photo. Photos below with regular camera and iPhone.

 Look, up in the sky!

Had no concerns about being directly underneath since they are such a pro operation

A little noisier than B2, but a welcome sound for the critically injured

Today they dropped in to Amherst College soccer fields as a training exercise with the College and AFD.  While we do not use them very often they can and do make a life and death difference, which to some extent helps me sleep better at night.