New Helos For New Jersey SPD?

I read on another forum that the NJ SPD will be replacing their S-76s for Agusta-Westland AW139s. This will cost the state over
$65 million!!! A lot of furor concerning the price of the ships in the current economy and the fact that supposedly the state is in
financial difficulty. Also why the need for a larger ship and hospital pads not capable of fitting the copter was also discussed.
The Maryland SPD are also replacing their fleet of 11 Dauphins with AW139s and that isnt sitting well with American Eurocopter.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryla ... 8873.story

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gerard

The Maryland SPD are also replacing their fleet of 11 Dauphins with AW139s and that isnt sitting well with American Eurocopter.

---

now that's a damn shame!

Well, considering the two primary birds (both S-76's, N1NJ and N5NJ) are 23 and 21 years old,
respectively, I'd say NJSP is justified in seeking replacements... As a former North Jersey fire/rescue
bubba, I'll say that while the Sikorskys are FAST and quite capable, they are also disturbingly loud in
all phases of flight, and the trooper pilots would often talk to us at scene about how the birds
were becoming a bit MX intensive- and this in the 96- 98 timeframe! Often enough, the -76
then- based at UMDNJ (Newark) was down for unscheduled repair, with a Long Ranger standing
in. That immediately limited us to one patient per flight, whereas the -76 was easily capable of
flying two patients out. It burned us more than once, and I shudder to think of how many
patients out in West Jersey lost the race because the primary was down and the backup
was a slower, less capable aircraft...

My concern about the replacement rests with the choice of airframe, especially where the hospital
pad size is concerned... While Woody (Robt Wood Johnson) has a fairly large pad, UMDNJ and
Morristown Memorial both have a rooftop pad which cannot be easily or affordably expanded to
accomodate an AW139. Same goes for the burn pad at St Barnabas in Livingston- it's ground level,
but hemmed in on 3 of 5 sides by un-stressed parking lot, and on the other two by the hospital road
system. I can't speak to hospitals in South Jersey or Philly, but an educated guess would be that the
same circumstance exists there, as well.

I'm hoping that the Troopers are shopping intelligently and sensibly for replacements, but knowing
Jersey, the state Legislature is probably waist deep in the process and any chance of doing this
right has become just a pipe dream...

[quote="Hussman75"]My concern about the replacement rests with the choice of airframe, especially where the hospital
pad size is concerned... While Woody (Robt Wood Johnson) has a fairly large pad, UMDNJ and
Morristown Memorial both have a rooftop pad which cannot be easily or affordably expanded to
accomodate an AW139. Same goes for the burn pad at St Barnabas in Livingston- it's ground level,
but hemmed in on 3 of 5 sides by un-stressed parking lot, and on the other two by the hospital road
system. I can't speak to hospitals in South Jersey or Philly, but an educated guess would be that the
same circumstance exists there, as well.

According to this press release PHI is "regretfully" severing its partnership with MONOC (Monmouth-Ocean County) Medevac.
http://www.monoc.org/admin/docs/news/ge ... 100609.pdf

Goes to show how long I've been out of the game, as well as the state... I've seen MONOC rigs around south and central Jersey, but had no idea the company had an aviation medevac division. Interesting...