Helipad Information

The Members of the Minnesota Air Medical Council invite and encourage city leaders, hospital personnel, and emergency responders to access the valuable resources posted on the lefthand side of the web page titled "MNDOT Hospital Helipad Resources."

In this section, you'll find materials on the structure, dimensions, and requirements for helipads.

For additional assistance, please contact MNDOT Aeronautics or your nearest flight program.

Videos Added
Also on the left side of the page, a new 4-part video titled "The Dangers Of Helicopter Shopping" is made available and suitable for all audiences. 

Winter Helipad Care

Winter is coming!  During this time of year, with the ever-changing weather conditions, snow and ice can become a safety liability to your institution. This would include driveways, sidewalks and parking lots open to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

One area that can be easily overlooked is your hospital helipad. The helipad should be as clean and dry a surface as you would keep the sidewalks at your hospital. With this in mind, we would like to offer some suggestions and recommendations.

1. Advise the communications center of your helipad surface condition. (i.e., clean and dry, covered by snow or ice, new obstructions, construction, etc.)

2. Do not pile snow on the helipad perimeter. The snow should be pushed off the pad at least 5 feet from the perimeter and no higher than 10 inches. (Some helicopter tail rotors are only 2 feet above the ground.)

3. Do not use salt or sand on your helipad. The helicopters downdraft (“rotor wash”) will blow the salt or sand around and can cause harm to persons or damage facilities. Salt is also very corrosive to the aircraft and sand is both abrasive and easily ingested into the engines.

There are various Federal Aviation Administration approved products that are an alternative to sodium

chloride and sand.

http://greenicemelt.com/products-naac.htm

http://www.hjefertilizer.com/IceMelters/ZeroIcePro/ (Zero Ice Ultra)

http://www.cryotech.com/

4. As warmer weather and the spring season approach, remove any residual materials from the helipad by sweeping and/or washing the surface.

The Minnesota Air Medical Council does not endorse any one product. However, we encourage you to contact your local air medical program as listed below for further information.

Safety Training: Are You Current?

Now is a great time to check your records to ensure that your personnel have had initial and recurrent helipad or landing zone training.

Each Member flight program is happy to assist you and your organization in providing training for your organization.  Training is designed for anyone who has the responsibility to set up and secure a landing zone (LZ) or ensure that a helipad is secure.

MNAMC Member programs recommend initial training for newly hired personnel, as well as annual recurrent training.

Contact your nearest flight program for additional details and see the NEMSPA Helipad Safety Video link on this page.

Planning a construction project?

Summer is construction season - We can use your help! 

If your health care facility has a helipad and is planning construction projects, be sure to inform your nearest flight program.

Loose construction materials and other obstructions (like cranes) can be a hazard.  All MNAMC Member programs report known hazards to each other so that our flight crews can conduct a safe flight. 

At times, we may need to divert to an alternate landing zone.  Planning in advance is essential to prevent delays in transport.

Contact your nearest flight program for additional assistance.

Safety Enhanced With Use of Weather Turndown Website

Weather Turndown is a service provided by AirMed International, designed to foster open communication between air medical programs, being a valuable online data collection system for flight programs across the United States.  From a regional perspective, Life Link III and the other members of the Minnesota Air Medical Council are working together to optimize the use of the system to enhance flight safety.  

During the flight planning process, Weather Turndown can be accessed by pilots to supplement their weather information to make a “go/no-go” decision based on data entered from other flight programs.  For instance, when a pilot from another program declines a flight due to icing, other pilots can safely assume that icing is present based on the other pilot’s observation.  In a sense, pilots can collaborate indirectly to help avoid unintended encounters with unsafe flight conditions.

In January 2012, the voting Members of the Minnesota Air Medical Council heard a proposal made by Ed Eroe, CEO of Life Link III, to form an ad hoc work group made up of Member flight program representatives.  This group is currently working together to standardize useful  information required by end users (Pilots and Communications Specialists) and ensure that consistent, valuable information is applied by all organizations.  Members designated at least two participants, including representatives in flight operations and communications.

We are excited to also have member programs from Wisconsin participate in the work group, which is a tribute to the dedication and commitment between the two Councils. 

Winter Helipad Care

During this time of year, with the ever-changing weather conditions, snow and ice can become a safety liability to your institution. This would include driveways, sidewalks and parking lots open to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

One area that can be easily overlooked is your hospital helipad. The helipad should be as clean and dry a surface as you would keep the sidewalks at your hospital. With this in mind, we would like to offer some suggestions and recommendations.

1.         Advise the communications center of your helipad surface condition. (i.e., clean and dry, covered by snow or ice, new obstructions, construction, etc.)

2.         Do not pile snow on the helipad perimeter.  The snow should be pushed off the pad at least 5 feet from the perimeter and no higher than 10 inches.  (Some helicopter tail rotors are only 2 feet above the ground.)

3.                  Do not use salt or sand on your helipad.  The helicopters downdraft (“rotor wash”) will blow the salt or sand around and can cause harm to persons or damage facilities. Salt is also very corrosive to the aircraft and sand is both abrasive and easily ingested into the engines.

There are various Federal Aviation Administration approved products that are an alternative to sodium

chloride and sand. 

                https://plus35.safe-order.net/greenicemelt/catalog/index.php?cPath=86

                http://www.hjefertilizer.com/IceMelters/ZeroIcePro/  (Zero Ice Ultra)

                http://www.cryotech.com/products/runway.php

4.         As warmer weather and the spring season approach, remove any residual materials from the helipad by sweeping and/or washing the surface.

The Minnesota Air Medical Council does not endorse any one product. However, we encourage you to contact your local air medical program as listed below for further information.

Sincerely,

The Minnesota Air Medical Council