Bulgarian National Police (Gendarmeria)
by Ivan Kristoff
“I would never forget the very first time I met the commander of the Bulgarian National Police Aviation Unit, Col. Kondev and second pilot Lt. Col. Alexander Hristov. I just arrived at the Sofia International Airport from Moscow, where I was invited to participate in a government delegation. I was picked up by Col. Botev from the Bulgarian Police Academy Faculty of Emergency Service and we went to the Airbase to discuss a possible aerial rope rescue cross training with the flying crew of the Specialized Aviation Unit .
My flight was delayed, the officers had to work overtime to get together, and we were all tired. But the moment we sat down and discussed the logistics of a new strategic aerial approach on the exterior side of a building, their professionalism and dedication was apparent. I was extremely impressed by their humble and expert approach towards our heli-rescue operation, I always want to be the first one to test my own theories and work with new equipment to utilize civilian and government helicopters in innovative aerial operations for vertical rescue.
For our training session, we diecided to do something ( on the following day), which no one in the country has done before: to hovere above the vertical side of the exterior wall of a tall building and evacuate an imobilized “victim” by air. To make things more realistic and as close to the harshest conditions as posible, we had to use heavi-duty smokers on the roof of an abounded six stories hospital in Lozen, Sofia. We had no time to prepare, neither I nedeed. I just told them, “Let’s meet tommorow morning, do the aerial operations before afternoon, because I was a guest to the biggest (and only) at that time TV Host Show in Bulgaria”.
The scenarios for the final stage of the training exercise was the following: A professional fireman responds to a high angle rescue situation by descending from the roof. He secures the “victim”, who needs to be evacuated by air. At the same time the Police helicopter hovers almost “blindfolded” at 20-25 meters above the fireman and the “victim”. Then the air rescue man conducts the following procedures:
1) Aerial approach to a suspended victim by air and a
2) Human extraction from the exterior wall of a highrise building
3) Disconnecting the victim from a rope
4) Evacuating the victim to safety
I chose the “victim to be my friend of more than 20 years, Jordan Georgiev, one of the best speleo-rescue technicians, member of the Bulgarian Caving Emergency Services Team. I commend him for his bravery, technical knowledge and experience. With him is Lt. Col. Rumen Grigorov, Chief of training with the Faculty of “Fire Safety and Emergency Service”. This represents a simple”pick-and-drop” aerial external loading and rope rescue.
And here we go, scaring the birds and hanging in the air, approaching the “victim”, safely secured by Lt. Col. Grigorov. I was impressed by the precision of hovering of the turbo tween-engine MI 17, with respect to the close distance to edge of the roof and surrounding hazardous elements. It was fast, time efficient and precise heli-rescue operation, to pick up the”victim” and fly him to the Landing Zone.”
References: Aerial rapid-access and highrise emergency rope rescue
Leading from the front line - a debrefing of the aerial operation
