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Inbound Aircraft

1. All inbound aircraft will establish and maintain radio contact with OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) a minimum of 10 minutes prior to arrival. OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) will provide known EMS traffic advisories to all arriving aircraft.

2. The communications frequencies for OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) are as follows.

Primary: 159.510 PL 88.5

Secondary: 123.075

3. All inbound aircraft will make a mandatory “Landing in 5” call to OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) when 5 minutes out from landing at either the LL37 or IL04 helipads.

4. Sequencing for multiple aircraft arrivals will be provided by OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm).

5. OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) will assign LL37 arriving aircraft the specific helipad for landing / parking. The LL37 helipads are identified as Upper East, Upper West, Lower North, and Lower South (See figure 1).

6. For those situations where all four LL37 helipads are occupied, OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) will direct arriving aircraft to proceed to the published holding area east of the LL37 heliport over the Illinois River (See figure 2). Aircraft entering the holding area will hold below 2000 MSL or as directed by Peoria Approach Control utilizing left hand turns (See figure 2).

7. Aircraft in the holding area will maintain radio contact with OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) to receive notification when a helipad is open for the next arrival.

8. Hot off-loading / on-loading of patients is not allowed at any of the LL37 helipads.

9. As soon as possible after arrival and shutdown, the pilot of each non OSF Aviation aircraft will contact OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) at 309-624-2386 and provide Flight Comm with a telephone number at which the pilot can be directly and immediately contacted.

10. At no time will flight crews leave their aircraft unsecured (i.e., doors open, medical equipment left outside the aircraft, etc.) when not in the immediate vicinity of their aircraft.

11. For those aircraft that depart LL37 or IL04 after patient drop-off with the intent of relocating for fuel, prior to departing the refueling site the pilot will contact OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) at 309-624-2386 to advise of their intention to return to LL37 or IL04. Flight Comm will advise of any necessary starting and/or departure delays and provide the pilot with any updated traffic and landing pad information.

INBOUND PATIENT REPORTS TO SAINT FRANCIS MEDCOM

1. All helicopters inbound to Saint Francis Medical Center will call patient reports for trauma patients on FLIGHT COM FREQ (159.510) (PL 88.5). Radio reports are not necessary for any other patient transfers unless patient condition warrants.

Departing Aircraft

1. Prior to engine start from either the LL37 or IL04 helipad, the pilot of each departing aircraft will contact OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) at 309-624-2386 to advise of their intention to start.  Flight Comm will advise of any necessary starting delays.
2. Prior to departure from any LL37 or IL04 helipad, the pilot will contact OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) on the primary radio frequency to advise of departure direction and altitude.  OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) will advise of any necessary departure delays and will provide known EMS traffic advisories to all departing aircraft.   
3. All departing aircraft will monitor OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) until well clear of the LL37 and IL04 helipads.

Notes

Note 1:  It is imperative that all aircraft contact OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) on the primary frequency inbound, prior to departure, and maintain a listening watch with OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) after departure in order to maintain safe and efficient traffic flow into and out of the area around the Saint Francis hospital.

Note 2:  Simultaneous arrivals, departures, and arrivals/departures are not authorized.  OSF Medical Communications (Flight Comm) will coordinate and sequence all arrivals and departures to either the LL37 or IL04 helipads.  

Note 3:  A quick reference card for use in the aircraft outlining the above procedures is attached as figure 4.

Designated Avoid Over Flight Area

OSF Aviation has received numerous noise complaints from the neighborhood area (see figure 3) just to the west of the Peoria St. Francis helipad (northwest of Methodist Hospital).  Please avoid over flight of this area to the best of your ability, winds and weather permitting when inbound or outbound and during approaches and departures to/from the LL37 or IL04 helipads.