By Bob Laylo
Morning Call
Copyright 2007 The Morning Call, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
ALLENTOWN, Penn. — Darkness draped the Mahoning Valley. The moon had yet to rise on this muggy night, and few stars dotted the sky.
To the naked eye, only the dark outline of the mountains that surround the valley in Carbon County was visible.
But through the darkness, the crews of the PennSTAR medical helicopter stationed at Jake Arner Memorial Airport near Lehighton could see the trees and other details.
That’s because they were being trained on Pinnacle night vision goggles, which light up the night in a green glow. The helicopter crews will use them on future night flights so they can spot obstructions, such as power lines.
Justin Watlington from Aviation Specialties Unlimited of Boise, Idaho, who is training PennSTAR crews to use the goggles, said they amplify available light 6,000 times.
“They just turn night into day,” he said.
PennSTAR crews stationed in Carbon County and West Chester will be the first to use the goggles. Bob Higgins, program coordinator for PennSTAR, said those crews will begin using them in the next month or so.
But over the the next few years, other PennSTAR helicopter crews, including ones in Northampton, Berks and Montgomery counties, will use the goggles, Higgins said. The PennSTAR’s other helicopters need to be retrofitted so crews can use them.
“Anything that is lit in the aircraft has to have a filter to put over top of it,” he said. “Otherwise there is an inordinate amount of glare.”
Retrofitting the aircraft, buying the goggles and training the crews is a significant investment for PennSTAR, which is owned by the University of Pennsylvania Health System and sponsored by St. Luke’s Hospital in Fountain Hill and Reading Hospital.
Higgins said it cost $200,000 per station.
The goggles cost $10,000 apiece, and will be worn by every member of the three-person crew -- pilot, paramedic and registered nurse -- when they fly at night.
Crews have to sign State Department waivers saying they won’t misuse them.
“The single most important thing you can do is to improve safety at night,” Watlington said.
PennSTAR has never had a significant injury or accident in its 20-year-history, Higgins said, “and we most certainly want to keep it that way.”
Higgins added that the goggles also can be helpful in looking for people, such as lost hunters or Alzheimer’s patients who wander away.
Before the goggles can be used, crews get eight hours of classroom instruction. Paramedics and nurses get an hour training in the air, and pilots get five hours of air time with the goggles.
Last week, Watlington helped teach each member of the Mahoning Township-based PennSTAR crew how to focus the goggles. Then they took to the sky.
Watlington gave them some pointers. For example, he told crews to look for poles, then use a floodlight on the bottom of the helicopter to look for power lines -- the obstruction helicopter crews fear most.
Capt. John Harvey, a PennSTAR pilot who is stationed in Carbon County, said he used night vision goggles when when he flew helicopters in the Marines 11 years ago. But the next generation of the goggles are improved.
“The halo effect that comes off lights has been reduced very significantly,” Harvey said. “These don’t wash out nearly as easily.”
The goggles are about 4 inches across and lightweight. They are mounted on helmets the pilot and crew use when they fly, and a wire runs from the goggles to a battery pack that is affixed on the back of the helmets. The goggles can be flipped up when paramedics and nurses need to focus on a patient.
The crews said they take a little getting used to, but are worth it.
“It’s incredible technology and an advantage for us,” said PennSTAR registered nurse Crystal Simmons. “It makes us safer.”
And Higgins said they should be particularly useful for crews that fly in the Lehigh Valley and Carbon County because of the mountains.
“It really is a challenging environment to fly in,” he said.