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71. The author of this editorial concludes that the guidelines for training pilots and maintaining equipment in the medical-helicopter industry are ineffective, even though they are far more stringent than those in other airline industries. To support this conclusion, the author cites statistics showing that the rate of medical-helicopter accidents is much higher than the rate of accidents for non-medical helicopters or commercial airliners. This argument is problematic in three critical respects. The first problem with the argument is that it rests on the unstated assumption that accidents involving medical helicopters have been due to inadequate pilot training or equipment maintenance. However, the author fails to acknowledge and rule out other possible causes of such accidents. In fact, common sense tells us that medical-helicopter accidents are most likely to result from the exigent circumstances and dangerous flying and landing conditions which typify medical emergencies where helicopters are required to gain access to victims. A second, and related, problem is that the author unfairly compares the accident rate of medical helicopters with the accident rate for non-emergency aircraft. Medical | 
