Development of a New Fleet Concept for HEMS Operations

The subject of this paper is the conceptual development of two new configurations for HEMS Operations as a new fleet concept for the European theater. Previous studies showed an increase of the required flight range for an emergency patient transport. But in conjunction with an average share of less than 30% of the flights actually with the patient. In the most rescue missions an emergency physician is transported to the scene, the patients further transport is conducted on-road by an ambulance. Considering an improved flight performance, the first DLR design study revealed a growth of the maximum take-off mass of the primary rescue helicopter of 32%. That makes the rescue helicopter inefficient for the transport of only the emergency physician. Consequently, if an ambulance is already at the scene, an emergency doctor shuttle is the sensible approach. The requirements for such a configuration are developed from a feasibility study lead by the ADAC Air Rescue (ADAC Luftrettung), considering the design of a progressive multirotor configuration. This paper presents the state of the design process for both rescue configurations. This includes the definition of the external configuration, cabin design, propulsion architecture, aerodynamics, flight performance, wind tunnel test, and structural considerations.