Helicopter noise
I was awakened twice last night by the noise of helicopters heading to or from Pinnacle Health hospital in downtown Harrisburg. The first time was the worst. It sounded like the damn thing was hovering right over my house in Shipoke. This happens all the time. My children say it's scary. When Pinnacle began helicopter service three years ago, it said the helicopter service wasn't going to be used for scooping up car accident victims to bring them to the hospital. The stated purpose was to get referrals from smaller hospitals for advanced medical services. Somehow I doubt that a lot of referrals for this sort of thing are made at 1 or 2 in the morning. Basicly, Pinnacle wanted to grab some of the business going to Hershey Medical Center and Geisinger Medical Center, which already had helicopters. We neighbors in Shipoke were supposed to suck it up like good little midstaters.
Far more important than the noise issue is the safety issue. Medivac helicopters crash somewhere every year. There is no excuse for these helicopters flying at low altitude over Shipoke or other neighborhoods in the city when there is a wide river that can be used as a flight path to the Pinnacle helipad, which is a short distance from the river across a section of Riverfront Park. If a helicopter is going to crash, better it be in the Susquehanna River then into a block of homes in Shipoke. One can only imagine what might have happened on the ground if a medivac helicopter that crashed in Washington, D.C., last year had come down in a residential neighborhood instead of the Potomac River.
Pinnacle, headed by Dr. Roger Longenderfer, at best pays lip service to neighborhood noise and safety complaints, but you can send yours to him at P.O. Box 8700, Harrisburg, Pa. 17105, or e-mail him at rlongenderfer@pinnaclehealth.org. The Pinnacle switchboard number is 231-8200. Pinnacle isn't about to voluntarily give up or limit the helicopter landings. This is both an economic and prestige issue for the hospital. Important hospitals have helipads. Unimportant hospitals don't. Only the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can force them to make changes. The FAA accepts helicopter noise complaints at 9-AEA-NOISE@faa.gov or 1-718-553-3365. Keep a log of dates and times.
Our elected officials, especially the federal ones, can also bring pressure. For example, check out this news release from Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, responding to citizen complaints on Long Island about noise from helicopters flying between New York City and the resort areas of the Hamptons. U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., lived in Shipoke years ago when was an aide to State Sen. Doyle Corman. He or U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter or Rep. Tim Holden ought to step in.
Here is what I say needs to be done to eliminate or minimize the helicopter noise and safety problem in Harrisburg:
1. Limit the flights to daylight hours. If they absolutely must come at night, let them land at the airport in New Cumberland and bring the patients by ambulance from there. If these are truly not critical emergency patients, that shouldn't be a problem.
2. Ban overflights of Shipoke for safety reasons. No excuses. Approaches and departures from the Pinnacle helipad must be over the river, not populated areas.
3. Require the helicopter services to use lower-noise helicopters. Some helicopters are much noisier than others.
We aren't required to give up our safety and peace of mind for the greater glory and success of Pinnacle Health.