Frequencies/tags for Palomar Hospital lifeFlight?

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MisterLongwire

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Living near the 'new" Palomar Hospital has been quite noisey with choppers flying in and out in all hours of the day/night. I have looked endlessly for the frequency and/or tag #'s for comm between the hospital and choppers. Any help would be appreciated. Thx.
 

mike619

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Is the helicopter called LifeFlight or do you mean Reach air medical and Mercy Air?
 
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JoeyC

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There is also MedAir on the RCS. Lifeflight helicopters that were based at UCSD in the 80s and 90s are distant history, As was stated above, its Reach and MercyAir that do air transports in socal these days.

If you are tuning your radio when you hear the choppers approach you've missed the communication that likely has already taken place at the point of pickup and shortly after liftoff.
 

f40ph

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Having dispatched EMS helicopters years ago, I'm not sure you'd hear much on approach to a hospital. The air-med dispatchers usually phone the receiving hospital when the helo leaves the scene. Since it's a secure helipad in most cases, I'm not sure who they'd need to talk to. The only thing might be a blind announcement on an AM aircraft frequency to any other aircraft in the area. I guess you might hear them say "arriving hospital" on their company channel.
 

mike619

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Having dispatched EMS helicopters years ago, I'm not sure you'd hear much on approach to a hospital. The air-med dispatchers usually phone the receiving hospital when the helo leaves the scene. Since it's a secure helipad in most cases, I'm not sure who they'd need to talk to. The only thing might be a blind announcement on an AM aircraft frequency to any other aircraft in the area. I guess you might hear them say "arriving hospital" on their company channel.

So you are basically saying try the Flight Guard frequency if it is Reach Air Medical? which they usually announce on after being dispatched.
 

MikeyC

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So you are basically saying try the Flight Guard frequency if it is Reach Air Medical? which they usually announce on after being dispatched.

If you live near a small airport then the med helos may come up on the unicom frequency (or tower if it exists) and announce that they're traveling through the airspace. Out in the middle of nowhere in Illinois where I am there's a skydiving airport and the med helos traversing the area will come up on the airport's unicom and let them know they're in the area.

The helicopters also come up on the ambulance-to-hospital channel to let the hospital know they're en-route and to check on other helicopter traffic in the area. The local Lifeflight here is on the statewide trunked system and will do some flight following with their base but they're dispatched via phone and/or computer so most of the time you don't know where they're going.

It makes me really miss the days of UCSD Life Flight being dispatched on 462.9750 :)
 
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