​As hospital admissions for Coronavirus patients continue to rise, the HELP Appeal team is aiming to boost the ‘Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save Lives’ message through a series of WWII inspired posters, to help relieve the pressure on NHS staff and Intensive Care Units around the country.
 
Even though the charity continues to fund NHS hospital helipads across the country, thanks to your support; we also want to help hospitals in another way during the pandemic.
 
Through the creation of seven posters, the charity hopes to channel the indomitable spirit of the British people during WWII, the inspirational speeches of Winston Churchill and iconic wartime icons such as Rosie the Riveter, to help encourage people to wash their hands, cover their face and stay at home in the fight against Coronavirus.  Everyone needs to batten down the hatches for a bit longer to help protect the NHS and help save lives. 

​You can download the posters via the link here

Green Deck Operations is proud to be working alongside the Civil Aviation Authority International to carry out several helipad feasibility studies in support of HEMS and SAR operations in the highlands and islands of Scotland. Arran, Oban and Fort William will be the first remote locations to receive visits as soon as restrictions are lifted. We are already supporting the new Campbeltown project and looking forward to the opening in April.

After more than a decade of research and development, Conair’s answer to the future of aerial firefighting is the Q400AT. The purchase marks the most significant investment Conair has made to date towards developing a fleet of Next Generation aircraft designed to better fight wildfires for years to come.
Planes used to fight wildfires as airtankers are often older models and are flown into demanding environments, inevitably resulting in metal fatigue over time. In addition, aircraft designed to obsolete standards leads to increased risk of incidents, costly repairs, limited replacement parts, and ultimately time grounded from fighting fires. Conair’s strategic move towards a long-term vision includes replacing the company’s fleet of heavy legacy airtankers with the new Q400ATs.

“We evaluated 29 aircraft before selecting the Q400 for modification into an aerial firefighting tool. The unanimous opinion of our flight operations experts was that the Q400 exceeds all the Next Generation performance criteria within a maneuverable and stable platform,” said Jeff Berry, Director of Business Development at Conair. “The Q400AT is fast, fuel efficient, and tactically flexible, operating both initial attack, as well as sustained support actions. The Q400 is still in production and has strong Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) support from De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited (De Havilland Canada), guaranteeing availability of parts and servicing for years.”
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Ideal platform for special mission operations
“We are delighted that Conair is acquiring another eleven Dash 8 aircraft to support the growth of the company’s specialized airtanker fleet,” added Philippe Poutissou, Vice-President of Marketing and Sales at De Havilland Canada. “In addition to being the most advanced and efficient turboprops deployed in regional airline and air transport roles around the world, De Havilland Canada’s versatile Dash 8 Series aircraft continue to be an ideal platform for special mission operations such as aerial firefighting, search and rescue and medical evacuation and we congratulate Conair on the excellent work they are doing supporting diverse communities with their Dash 8 multi-role and airtanker aircraft.”

Deliveries will start this month
The Q400 aircraft were purchased from HEH Hamburger EmissionsHaus, through Skyworld Aviation. The eleven aircraft, originally Flybe commuter planes, are based in Europe and will be delivered to Conair starting this month.

Great few days overseas, a mix of maritime and a chance to open discussions with the main hospital in Antigua, the Mount Saint Johns Hospital regarding upgrading their helipad through charity support.

So happy to report that after some two years in planning and delays, our Campbeltown Hospital Helipad Project is finally at the stage of construction, bringing a much needed capability to the town of Campbeltown and surrounding areas. We are planning on visiting the site in February and then for the opening in April.

​The unlicensed helipad will be certified by Green Deck Operations and will operate in accordance with ICAO Annex 14 Vol II and CAP 1264. It will be capable of operating all inservice HEMS and UK SAR assets.

It has been an aspiration of Green Deck Operations to deliver online dangerous Goods by Air Awareness training for some time. We are now proud to announce that in partnership with the UKs leading Superyacht Helideck Training Company, Helidecks SA, we have available to all our clients the ability to deliver online DG by Air training which meets the exacting criteria of the IATA DG Regulations.

It is a requirement in accordance with IATA and ICAO Regulations / Guidance that comprehensive and approved training must be delivered to all helideck team members to ensure they are aware of  hazards posed by the transport of dangerous goods by air.  It is also a requirement that re-validation training be carried out every 24 months.  All crew carrying out a OPITO Helideck Team Training or an MCA Commercial Helideck Training course must have a valid Dangerous Goods by Air Awareness Training Certificate.
To make is easy for crews to achieve dangerous goods certification, Green Deck Operations and Helidecks SA have developed joint online training course which has been designed to meet the dangerous goods prerequisites for the OPITO Helideck Operations Initial Training Course and the MCA Large Yacht Training Syllabus for Commercial Yacht Helidecks. 

The course provides an easy to understand way to ensure you are fully aware of the possible hazards associated with the transport of dangerous goods by air during offshore and yacht helicopter operations.
Please go to www.aviationdangerousgoods.com for further details.

The European standard for firefighter protective clothing – BS EN469 – has been revised and published in 2020. The new standard makes several key changes and improvements on the 2005 version, which we thought it would be helpful to explain for you here.

Key changes in BS EN469 2020

The updated standard increases the requirement for flame spread and heat resistance testing of:
• Any reinforcement material
• Anti-wicking barrier – which also has size limitations added
• Drain mesh – which also has size limitations
• Hardware – must be tested for heat resistance only
• Any label (> 10cm2), badges and retro reflective materials must be tested for flame spread as part of the whole garment. It also sets a design requirement and specifies performance testing for external pockets and gives detailed instructions about how to test hardware. The heat resistance of sewing threads must now be tested to 260°C.

But the biggest change in the new standard relates to testing the ability of a garment to perform in its “as received” state. The previous standard – BS EN 469:2005 – only required garments to meet the standard after having been laundered five times.  The new standard makes it clear that garments need to provide relevant protection against heat transfer and radiant heat from day one of use.

The timeline for changing to all firefighter garments complying with BS EN469:2020As when all standards change, the new standard is not retrospective, so it is not the case that PPE has to immediately meet the new standard.

Just ensure that when you decide to change out your fire fighter PPE, ensure it meets the correct standard, ie the 2020 standard, that way you will be future proof!
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