Lørenskog Heliport, Ahus
Lørenskog Heliport, Ahus | |||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Private | ||||||||||
Owner | Oslo University Hospital | ||||||||||
Operator | Norsk Luftambulanse | ||||||||||
Serves | Lørenskog, Norway | ||||||||||
Location | Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 59°55′56″N 10°59′13″E / 59.93222°N 10.98694°E | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
Helipads | |||||||||||
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Lørenskog Heliport, Ahus (
History
After NLA was founded in 1977, it started working to establish a permanent ambulance helicopter base in the central parts of Eastern Norway.[1] Initially the foundation started fund-raising to run a one-year trial with a helicopter based near Oslo. The proposal was rejected by the Ministry of Social Affairs, which stated that the need for such a service would be primarily in remote locations and that an equal service for the whole country would have to be established for state funding.[2]
As a promotional stunt, NLA allied with the Norwegian Automobile Federation (NAF) and brought an ADAC helicopter to various sites in Eastern Norway. By indicated that each location was a possible candidate for a base, they were able to garnish support from the various local newspapers. However, NAF did not have funds to follow through on the project and pulled out.[3]
Norsk Luftambulanse started discussions with Akershus County Municipality, who were positive to the service. This resulted in Akershus Central Hospital (SiA, today Ahus) being selected as the initial base.[4] NLA's first helicopter was a Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Bo 105 which was leased from the manufacturer and named Bård 1.[5] To aid funding, it received advertisements.[2] The base was inaugurated on 7 June 1978 as Lørenskog Heliport, Central Hospital.[6]
The initial base was a simple structure consisting of a plastic hangar and a small room at the hospital. The crew received dorms in a nearby dormitory.[7] NLA did not have an air operator's certificate to begin with and subcontracted operations to Mørefly.[8] High operating costs caused NLA to switch operators to Partnair from 1 May 1979. They proposed moving the base to Oslo Airport, Fornebu to cut costs, but this was rejected.[9] In its first year of operation, the base carried out 216 missions.[10] Until Stavanger Heliport, Central Hospital opened in 1981, Lørenskog was the only ambulance helicopter base in Norway.[7]
The original base had limited facilities and long distances between the crew rooms and the helicopter. This caused the need for a new, compact base, which opened in November 1987.
Facilities
The heliport is located on the outskirts of Akershus University Hospital, about 300 meters (980 ft) from the emergency department. The asphalt heliport tarmac measures 20.55 meters (67.4 ft). The facilities include a hangar for two helicopters and a fuel tank.[13] The facility is owned and operated by Innlandet Hospital Trust, part of Southern and Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority. It features a hangar and a single asphalt helipad.[14]
The heliport is situated about 20 kilometers (12 mi) from downtown Oslo,
Operations
Lørenskog is the only base in Norway which operates two ambulance helicopters. The ambulance helicopters are operated by Norsk Luftambulanse on contract with the National Air Ambulance Service. They have a
References
- ^ Andersen: 22
- ^ a b Andersen: 30
- ^ Andersen: 34
- ^ Andersen: 31
- ^ Andersen: 29
- ^ Andersen: 14
- ^ a b c d e Andersen: 128
- ^ Andersen: 16
- ^ Andersen: 49
- ^ Luftambulansetjenesten i Norge (PDF) (in Norwegian). Vol. 8. Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. 1998. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
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ignored (help) - ^ Andersen: 21
- ^ Andersen: 212
- ^ a b "Landingsforhold ved sykehus" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Norwegian Air Ambulance. p. 27. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
- ^ a b "Lørenskog" (in Norwegian). National Air Ambulance Service of Norway. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
Bibliography
- Andersen, Rune (2007). Når det haster (in Norwegian). Oslo: Orion Forlag. ISBN 978-82-458-0838-4.