Saw this today and thought of this thread.
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Alabama State Troopers using more powerful helicopter, more training to become force in rescues
(3/12/12, J. Gray, Birmingham News) After Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, Alabama State Troopers flew in helicopters over Mississippi and Louisiana, dropping food, water and insulin to families stranded by the storm."People were making signs in their yards with sticks and clothes -- We need help," Chief Pilot Lee Hamilton said. "We kept making those drops over and over again, daylight to dark, for about seven days." One thing troopers couldn't do for those stranded survivors was lift them from the wreckage and fly them to safety. "It would have been nice to have been able to pick these people up, especially the ones who were hurt," Hamilton said. Four years later, equipped with a more powerful helicopter and following the methods of the U.S. Coast Guard, troopers were finally able to start performing the kind of air rescues Hamilton wished they could have made during Katrina. In 2005, troopers had an aviation unit, which searches for fugitives and marijuana fields, and a critical response team, which deploys after natural disasters. After Katrina, troopers were pulled from those units to serve on an air rescue squad that can fly out with people trapped in dangerous situations. To do that, the state in 2007 purchased a Bell 407 helicopter, which -- unlike other trooper helicopters -- can lift people at the end of a 100 or 150 foot line capable of carrying 2,200 pounds. Troopers trained with the Georgia State Patrol Rescue Squad and studied the Naval Hoist Procedure Manual and the U.S. Coast Guard Procedure Manual. By 2009, the new unit was in operation. Today, the 14 troopers hand-selected for the duty search for Alzheimer's patients, track fugitives and pluck people from perilous situations. Three mechanics who maintain the helicopter often double as crew members and are selected for their physical fitness. "When you don't have the manpower you need, you make do with what you have," Hamilton said. In its first three years, the unit has searched for 260 missing people, hunted 212 fugitives, and performed 34 air rescue missions. "Someone who is sharp mentally and physically fit. That's who you want," Hamilton said. "Being able to get on the roof of a car the size of a small tabletop and handing up a 2-year-old to someone who can strap them to a line while in the middle of a river. That's who we look for." There are at least four people on board during a standard rescue mission -- a pilot, a rescue officer who goes down on the line and a flight officer who stays in the back, following hand signals from the officer on the line. The flight officer tells the pilot where to fly based on those hand signals...