HAI is pleased to announce that John Holland, Regional Aviation Director, Air Methods Corporation, Macon, Georgia, will receive HAI’s 2005 Pilot of the Year Award. This award recognizes an outstanding single feat performed by a helicopter pilot, or extraordinary professionalism over a period of time.
During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Holland was instrumental in the evacuation of patients and staff at Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans. When LifeNet, a division of Air Methods, received a request from the hospital to assist with air medical evacuations, they assigned Holland to recon the situation, setup aircraft staging at off-site locations for air assets as needed, and manage the helicopter traffic and helipad procedures.
Holland stayed on the helipad, until the last person was evacuated, 60 hours later. Patients were carried through the hospital, then into the parking garage, where they were transferred to pickup trucks and driven to the roof, and loaded onto helicopters. Holland put out a radio “mayday†call for all helicopters in the area to respond to the hospital. Several civilian helicopters responded to evacuate the patients. Holland also called some of his many military contacts, and CH-57s, CH-51s, and Black Hawk helicopters flew in to help. Hospital staff loaded patients in helicopters ranging from a Robinson R-44 to a Chinook.
Rotorhub Article
During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Holland was instrumental in the evacuation of patients and staff at Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans. When LifeNet, a division of Air Methods, received a request from the hospital to assist with air medical evacuations, they assigned Holland to recon the situation, setup aircraft staging at off-site locations for air assets as needed, and manage the helicopter traffic and helipad procedures.
Holland stayed on the helipad, until the last person was evacuated, 60 hours later. Patients were carried through the hospital, then into the parking garage, where they were transferred to pickup trucks and driven to the roof, and loaded onto helicopters. Holland put out a radio “mayday†call for all helicopters in the area to respond to the hospital. Several civilian helicopters responded to evacuate the patients. Holland also called some of his many military contacts, and CH-57s, CH-51s, and Black Hawk helicopters flew in to help. Hospital staff loaded patients in helicopters ranging from a Robinson R-44 to a Chinook.
Rotorhub Article
