NTSB Safety Recommendations A-09-104 through -107

[NTSB Press Releases <NTSBPressReleases@xxxxxxxx>]

Title: NTSB Safety Recommendations A-09-104 through -107

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                   NTSB SAFETY RECOMMENDATION

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National Transportation Safety Board

Washington, DC 20594

September 24, 2009

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NTSB Safety Recommendations A-09-104 through -107

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Therefore, the National Transportation Safety Board

recommends that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid:

Evaluate your existing helicopter emergency medical services

(HEMS) reimbursement rate structure to determine if

reimbursement rates should differ according to the level of

HEMS transport safety provided. (A-09-104)

If the findings from the evaluation conducted in response to

Safety Recommendation A-09-104 reveal that higher levels of

reimbursement are required to increase the level of safety,

establish a new reimbursement rate structure that considers

the level of helicopter emergency medical services transport

safety that is required. (A-09-105)

Develop minimum safety accreditation standards for

helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) operators that

augment the operating standards of 14 Code of Federal

Regulations Part 135 by including, for all flights with

medical personnel on board, (a) scenario-based pilot

training, (b) implementation of preflight risk evaluation

programs, (c) formalized flight and dispatch procedures, (d)

safety management systems, and (e) the installation of

Federal Aviation Administration-approved terrain awareness

warning systems, night vision imaging systems, flight data

recording systems for monitoring, and autopilots if a second

pilot is not used. (A-09-106)

Once the accreditation standard requested in Safety

Recommendation A-09-106 is developed, establish a policy

that provides Medicare reimbursement for helicopter

emergency medical services (HEMS) transportation only to

those HEMS operators that meet those standards. (A-09-107)

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http://www.ntsb.gov/Recs/letters/2009/A09_104_107.pdf

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The complete recommendation letter is available on the Web

at the URL indicated above.

The letter is in the Portable Document Format (PDF) and can

be read using the Acrobat Reader 5.0 or later from Adobe

(http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html).

       

An archive of recommendation letters is available at

http://www.ntsb.gov/recs/letters/letters.htm.

Electronic versions of letters may or may not include

enclosures; however, related publications, accident

briefs, and aviation accident synopses may be found

on the NTSB website.

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