A few points on the unit of the Irish Air Corps that provides the Emergency Aeromedical Service along with the NAS, given that it was in the news over the weekend.

Lets start big and work down, this may be telling some people stuff they already know but bear with me.
The Air Corps is the aviation element of the Defence Forces, charged with carrying out independent air operations and providing support to the other branches of the military.

In addition, the Air Corps support AGS, whether through the Garda Air Support Unit or other air support as required.

Because the Air Corps has the only state owned aviation assets, it also supports other, civilian, elements of the state such as the Air Accident Investigation Unit and the HSE. This is where EAS comes in.

The Air Corps consists of several different Units, or Wings. Each Wing performs a different function and is further divided into Squadrons which perform different functions within that Wing. EAS is performed by No 3 Ops Wing.

No 3 Ops Wing is the helicopter Wing of the Defence Forces. When you see a picture of ARW fastroping from a helicopter, fires being fought from the air and cargo being flown to cut off areas in winter, thats all these guys, this same bunch of people.

Since 1963, No 3 Ops Wing has performed air ambulance missions in Ireland. For a long time, this was about transferring people from a regional hospital to definitive care in a centre of excellence.

This is different than SAR by the way - under civilian regs they are governed separately so lets not confuse them here, although you can have the same crew and aircraft do both.

No 3 Ops Wing consists of Wing HQ, 301 Sqdn (AW139), 302 Sqdn ( EC135 ), 303 Sqdn ( Techs ) and 304 Sqdn ( GASU ). The AW139 is the primary operational aircraft and EAS is a function of 301 Sqdn.

In theory, all the flying crews for EAS would come from 301 Sqdn, with the tech support from 303 Sqdn. This doesn't happen. Why, you may ask?

In ye olden days, there was a distinction between 'ops' and the 'roster'. Ops was Army support, NS Support, AGS support etc - pretty much any tasking that came in and they were varied.

The Roster was just another thing that you did. A rostered crew was duty crew that day for any emergency flight that came in at short notice, like an air ambulance for example.

The aeromedical part of this was formalised into a partnership with NAS as EAS in 2012 and a Helicopter Emergency Service was born.

This service works out of Athlone with Air Corps hell crews and techs and NAS Advanced Paramedics ( they're great by the way, but I'd never say that to their face.)

As I said, nominally this roster would be staffed by 301 Sqdn who would fly this role along with many others while also carrying out ongoing training. They should have a ten full crews for this, or twenty pilots.

There are currently two full crews in 301 Sqdn. Two. Four people.

A result of this is that pilots are brought in from other parts of the Wing and wider Air Corps. These are usually more senior pilots that are in full time supervisory and leadership appointments.

It goes without saying, you're not supervising or leading if you're flying away from base for a week at time. Contact the aforementioned AAIU if you don't know why this is a problem.

The crews and techs who provide EAS love that role, they really do and this decision is gutting for them. At different times when morale might be on the floor, helicopters would still come out of the hanger and crews would be there for another duty away from their families.

Why? Because the motivation was there to do this. Everyone knew EAS matters and everyone was a part of it. Pilots, techs, aircrew, logs, ops and admin staff. Take one group away and nothing would happen.

As numbers reduce in any group, pressures come on the remaining people to perform. A very very small number of highly skilled, experienced, people has kept this service going for a long time now. The problem now is that every person that leaves the AC now has an outsized effect.

When I was there, EAS was flying 2.2 missions a day. Some days no one got sick, some days the phone rang while you were getting dressed asking you to get in early. You often left in the morning and landed at base at night but lets say 2.2.

Those calls would not happen if the service was not there. Those people would not be helped. If you accept that some people only survive because of EAS, the corollary of that is........

I won't get into some of the reports in the media re the IRCG and IRCC picking up the slack except to say that I have often seen multiple aircraft at hospitals and heard everyone on the radio. Someone will miss out here.

Why is this happening? There's been a retention crisis in the Air Corps for some time. It's not limited to pilots ( try maintaining an aircraft without techs for example ). It covers all the different work groups.

RACO and PDFORRA might be better placed to all the issues why this is, but basically, the DF exists in a marketplace and the highly skilled personnel of No 3 Ops Wing are a desirable asset for anyone.

I've left and the news of a reduction in EAS days hit me. I know the crews and techs still serving will be feeling it hard. I also know that today and every other day EAS is online they will produce a gold standard service to the people who need it on their worst day.

No one leaves for only one reason, but those that can fix this can go along way by paying people what they're worth. You never know when you might need their skills yourself, you want them to be there.

For my former colleagues and friends, what you do matters. Go mairidís beo.