The Emergency and Rescue Group (GES), a service under the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Security of the Government of the Canary Islands, carried out, in the first six months of 2011, 220 emergency actions throughout the Archipelago, after being activated from the CECOES 1-1-2. In Lanzarote they performed 18 services, while Tenerife accounted for the highest number of interventions with a total of 66, followed by Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura with 46 and 36, respectively. This helicopter went to La Palma on 30 occasions and to El Hierro and La Gomera 12.
Most of the interventions of the GES helicopter personnel in this period of time, more than 63 percent, were related to rescues in places difficult to access by land, where no other type of resource can reach, as well as rescuing people who have suffered some mishap at sea or in coastal areas.
To carry out these actions, the GES has a fleet of five modern helicopters, located on the islands of Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, El Hierro and La Palma, which attend to emergencies that may occur in the Canary Islands 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
That is why the technical and human resources contracted for the management of the emergency care, civil protection and surveillance service are specially prepared to search for missing persons, rescue trapped persons, locate and extinguish forest fires, attend to emergencies at sea and attend to and evacuate sick and injured persons, among other actions. If necessary, the GES helicopters can be medicalized for the transfer of patients.
Service typology
Regarding the typology of the services in which the five GES aircraft participated during the first semester of 2011, it should be noted that a total of 94 activations corresponded to maritime rescue services, another 70 actions to accidents and on a total of 29 occasions they were part of fire extinguishing devices, whether forest or other type.
In addition, to a lesser extent, the GES helicopters collaborated in 20 actions aimed at resolving incidents related to citizen security and healthcare.
Regarding the distribution of this activity over time, the month in which the GES helicopters registered the highest number of activations was January as it reached 46 actions, a figure very similar to that of June, where 43 interventions were recorded.
Characteristics
The Canary Islands emergency helicopter fleet consists of five helicopters of equal characteristics and capacity, equipped with the most modern devices for rescue services. Specifically, it is the Bell 412, equipped with autopilot, four blades, automatic approach system (ILS), complete equipment for flights without visibility (I.F.R.), weather radar, emergency floats for water rescue and rescue crane. The usual crew of these aircraft consists of a pilot, a co-pilot, two rescuers, a crane operator and a mechanic.
Responding to criteria of maximum operability and efficiency in response time, the helicopters have their bases on the islands of Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, El Hierro and La Palma. The aircraft based on the island of Majorera provides coverage not only to this island but also to Lanzarote and the Chinijo Archipelago.
The actions of these units, which have exclusive dedication and are available at all times, are coordinated by the CECOES 1-1-2, being activated under the protocols established by the General Directorate of Security and Emergencies.
ACN Press
