JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Senate passed a bill saving precious time for emergency medical services pilots and hospital staff Monday.
Senate Bill 988, sponsored by Sen. Will Kraus (R-Lee’s Summit), would prohibit the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) from requiring hospitals to erect fences around helipad landing sites. Kraus, who served as a helicopter pilot in the Army Reserve, said the current requirement could cause an unsafe situation when landing.
“Depending on environmental factors such as wind, a fence around a helipad could endanger the pilot, patient and hospital staff,” Kraus said. “The department heard from many pilots opposed to this unsafe rule.”
DHSS promulgated a rule in 1998 requiring hospitals to ‘cordon off’ helipads for the safety of pedestrians. In 2015, the department changed the interpretation of the rule, requiring hospitals to erect fences or large shrubs around the helipads.
Air ambulance companies and pilots brought the DHSS rule to Kraus’ attention after hospitals were forced to abandon the use of their helipads entirely due to safety concerns caused by the fence requirement. One hospital adopted a policy in which the pilot would land in a field adjacent to the facility and the patient would be transported via ambulance to the building.
The department refused to change the rule even after meeting with hospitals and pilots several times. The agency should have done a better job of listening to citizens’ concerns and helping solve problems, Kraus said.
“The department’s rule is a dangerous example of regulatory overreach by government bureaucracy,” Kraus said. “Disregarding the input of pilots regarding safety concerns is completely irresponsible.”
