According to the National Transportation Safety Board, over the past 12 months, there have been an alarming number of accidents involving medical helicopters. The reports show nine fatal accidents, with 35 people killed.

"We have seen an alarming rise in the numbers of EMS accidents, and the Safety Board believes some of these accidents could have been prevented if our recommendations had been implemented," said Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the NTSB hearing's board of inquiry. He also added that the public hearing which is taking place in Washington D.C. is very important because it can disclose more details about the industry that could lead to a better understanding of the process - this is expected to prevent similar accidents in the future and save lives.

In January 2006, the safety board made four main recommendations which are believed to have helped avoid some of last year’s incidents, if they had been implemented: the first is to make flight regulations for medical helicopters consistent; formalize dispatch and flight-following procedures, which includes making decisions based on up-to-date weather information; install terrain awareness and warning systems for all helicopters; and develop and implement flight risk evaluation programs.

Aside from the four recommendations, the board is also asking for a mandated use of night vision goggles and also the introduction of "black boxes" to the helicopter cockpits in order to help determine the cause of crashes. If all these suggestions will be considered and introduced over the next several months, the statistics might look a whole lot different on next year’s reports.