Stop The Helipad
S T O P   T H E    S F   G E N E R A L   H O S P I T A L   H E L I P A D
The Petition:
Sign the Petition

Keep Informed:

Join Our Mailing List

More Information:

SF Helicopter Emergency Landing Sites:

640 yearly Patient Transfers

Environmental Impact

Property Values

Proposed Flight Paths:

Helicopter Flight Costs

Fatal Helicopter Crashes

SFGH Neighbors' Comment

 

 

San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) wants to build a helipad on the Main Building's roof.  SFGH predicts 3 landings and 3 departures a day.  That's 6 helicopter events per 24-hour day; 40%  of these flights will occur between 11pm and 7 am.

SF patients would not use the helipad
Helicopters would not be housed at SF General's helipad; they would be kept at the Concord heliport.  When 911 calls for a helicopter, it takes 5-10 minutes to assemble the crew, warm-up engines, take off from Concord; then there's 15-18 minutes air-travel time to San Francisco.  So it would take about 30 minutes for a helicopter to arrive at any SF trauma site.  Ground ambulance, with average response time under 8 minutes, will continue to provide the best service to San Francisco residents in need of emergency transport.   

WHAT PATIENTS WOULD BENEFIT FROM THE HELIPAD?
According to the Hospital, the proposed SFGH helipad would primarily be used as a medical transportation hub for stabilized patients, transferring from other California county trauma centers to SFGH and to other San Francisco hospitals.  Many of these patients currently use the SFO airport and should continue to do so.

helipad at SF General would not save additional lives
Only 8% of the predicted 700 flights each year would be rescues from an injury site, most from Bay Area recreational sites or highways.  The 53 predicted rescues per year are now flown
to other Bay Area hospitals with helipads (click map below).  In fact, these other Bay Area Trauma Centers with helipads, are often closer to the rescue scene, and ALL are far less crowded than SFGH. 

San Francisco General, our ONLY County Hospital, is FULL
SFGH is San Francisco's only Trauma Center and the only SF County Hospital.  But due to over-crowding, it's on full ambulance diversion 20 % of the time.  When local residents (whose tax dollars support SF General), have a medical emergency, there is a 1-in-5 chance that SFGH will be too full to treat them; they then go to St. Luke's, but that emergency room will be closing in 2009.


WHY does SFGH want PATIENTS FROM OTHER COUNTIES?
Because helicopter transport is so expensive, ($20,000 per helicopter flight), it is only available to insured or high-income patients.  SFGH hopes to attract at least 400 such patients.  These patients, who come from California counties as far away as Lake Tahoe, or the Oregon border, currently fly to Trauma Centers in Palo Alto, Sacramento, San Jose and Oakland.  If these insured patients came to SFGH, their insurance would pay for their treatment in our hospital.  The SFGH Feasibility Study cheered this "increased downstream revenue". as would we all, if there were empty beds to fill at our hospital.  But with a 20% diversion rate, a flood of additional out-of-county patients would further reduce hospital care for local residents.

SERVING OTHER COUNTIES is beyond the SFGH mission
SFGH's mission,
is to serve SF's 1.5 million residents and visitors, particularly low-income and uninsured residents, who must pay for emergency service if treated at any other hospital.  SFGH revenue should NOT depend upon wealthy patients from surrounding counties, at the cost of reduced emergency services for San Franciscans. 
                    -------------------------------

In the News: Read the Wall Street Journal article on 'Emergency Medical Helicopters Overuse'.

"Unfortunately, the city of San Francisco has had a history of tragedy in and around the use of helicopters"

Supervisor Tom Ammiano
following a 2nd fatal Police helicopter crash
1/14/2000
 

Johns Hopkins Study Determines:
Darkness More than Triples EMS Helicopter Crash Fatality Risk:

http://www.alea.org/public/safety/files/2006_EMS_Accident_Study.pdf

 

EMS Helicopter crash rate is highest in aviation industry
The rate of FATAL CRASHES in helicopter Emergency Medical Services (EMS) operations is higher than the rate for all other categories of aviation.   http://www.alea.org/public/airbeat/back_issues/mar_apr_2006/2006_EMS_Accident_Study.pdf

Click images below for Medevac fatality info:

            

2008:  34  FATAL US Helicopter Crashes: 80 killed
2008:  11 MEDICAL Helicopter crashes; 29 killed

U.S. FATAL and MEDICAL helicopter crashes listed below:

Mar. 8, 2009, Moundridge, KS.  1 killed
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29585571/

Mar. 5, 2009, Gainsville, FL, Duck hits Medical Helicopter windshield
http://www.fixmywindshield.com/articles/?p=92

Feb 24, 2009, Noyock, NC.  1 killed, 1 injured
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g9yk6DWAvmF7V6INas6AcgK9AnNAD96I6GI82

Jan. 31, 2009, Piru, CA.  1 killed,
http://www.modbee.com/state_wire/story/584583.html

Jan. 22, 2009, Union County, NC.  1 killed,
http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9715112

Jan. 17, 2009, Corpus Christi, TX.  3 killed, 1 injured
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/january172008/navy_helo_crash_011708.php

Jan. 13, 2009, College Station, TX.  2 killed, 4 injured
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6212760.html

Jan. 4, 2009, Bayou Penchant, LA.  8 killed, 1 injured
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hBrZs5RX1V03FORB707B-9QU03VgD95GNMQ80

Dec. 17, 2008, Santa Clarita, CA- wind flips helicopter, 1 killed
http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA_Helicopter_Accident_374975C.shtml

Dec. 11, 2008, Sabine Pass, TX - helicopter crashes in Gulf, 5 killed
http://www.guidrynews.com/story.aspx?id=1000014191

Nov. 16, 2008, Quitman, AR - game warden helicopter crashes, 1 killed
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hHSFSELZsHrhlQmdgmDAB47mVH-gD94GI9JO1

Nov. 2, 2008, Gallatin, TN - private helicopter crashes, 1 killed
http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20081104X60811&key=1

Oct. 16, 2008, Dryden, NY - private helicopter crashes, 1 killed
http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081019/NEWS01/810190366/1006

*Oct. 15, 2008, Aurora, Il - Medical helicopter crashes, 4 killed
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ghsV51YkjN3SlbMyaqikpnzoK5kgD93RG8R81

Oct. 13, 2008, Sedona, AZ- Medical helicopter accident, 1 killed
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6055595.html

Oct. 13, 2008, Conroe, TX - News helicopter crashes, 2 killed
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6055595.html

*Sept. 27, 2008, District Heights, MD - Medical helicopter crashes, 4 killed
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Helicopter-Crash.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Sept. 21, 2008, Kenosha, WI - Helicopter crashes into home, 2 killed
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-kenosha-crash-22-sep22,0,2704368.story

Sept. 5, 2008, Oahu, HI - Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin (MEDEVAC-type) crashes into ocean, 4 killed
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080905/BREAKING01/309050013/-1/LOCALNEWSFRONT

*August 31, 2008, Greensburg, IN - Medical helicopter explodes on impact in corn field, 3 killed
http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=8929539

August 29, 2008, Ridgedale, MO - crash in remote wooded area, 2 killed
http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/775765.html

August 29, 2008, Taney, AR - 2 killed
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880829039

August 17, 2008, Olalla, WA - 1 killed, apparent power loss.
http://www.gateline.com/104/story/2150.html

August 5, 2008, Weaverville, CA - 9 killed, 4 seriously injured, unexplained main rotor power failure on takeoff.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/us/22brfs-005.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

July 19, 2008, Price, UT - 3 killed
http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp?S=8705257

July 15, 2008, Salesville, ARK - 2 killed, helicopter hits power lines
http://www.ky3.com/news/local/25465364.html

July 4, 2008, Sunol, CA - 2 killed, helicopter hits power lines
 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/04/BA3N11K66A.DTL&tsp=1

*June 29, 2008, Flagstaff, AZ -  medical helicopters collide, 3 killed, 3 injured http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20080715X01051&key=1

*June 29, 2008, Flagstaff, AZ -  medical helicopters collide, 4 killed, 3 injured http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20080715X01051&key=1 

*June 27, 2008, Ash Fork, AZ - Medical helicopter crashes, 3 injured http://www.abc15.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=a3b8a1b8-5f07-4f6f-ab09-56e9ff29e446

*June 8, 2008, Huntsville, TX - Medical helicopter crashes, 4 killed http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20080613X00858&key=1

*May 30, 2008, Pottsville, PA - Medical helicopter crashes, 2 injured http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=8405109&nav=5juw

*May 29, 2008, Grand Rapids, MI - Medical helicopter crashes on hospital roof : http://www.wwmt.com/articles/pilot_1349917___article.html/crash_helipad.html

May 25, 2008, Sunrise Beach, MO, 1 killed:
http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20080529X00752&key=1

May 24, 2008, Catalina, CA, 3 killed, 3 injured:
http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20080529X00746&key=1

May 15, 2008, Comstock, MI, 1 killed:
http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20080527X00729&key=1

*May 10, 2008, LaCrosse WI, Medical helicopter crashes, 3 killed,
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hlggrhdigQlDQmaZeT8nBAUWr7RQD90JQNUG0

April 28, 2008, Bartlet, TX, 1 killed:
http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20080505X00592&key=1

April 18, 2008, Fairmont, WV, 1 killed:
http://www.wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=37489

April 15, 2008, Chickaloon, Alaska, 4 killed, 1 injured:
http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20080421X00524&key=1

March 13, 2008, Wilmington, NC, 1 killed:
http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20080321X00357&key=1

*Feb 5, 2008, South Padre, TX, Medical helicopter crashes, 3 killed:
http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20080222X00227&key=1

Jan 25, 2008, Los Angeles , CA, 1 killed:
http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20080201X00130&key=1

Jan 22, 2008, Collier County , FL, 2 killed:
http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20080128X00108&key=1

Jan 16, 2008, Nueces County , TX, 3 killed:
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/january172008/navy_helo_crash_011708.php

 _____________________________________

 

_____________________________________

Contact Us  |   Petition  |   Mailing List  |   Site Map