Skip to content
Tailboard
SOG-240EMSSOG

Helicopter Landing Zone Operations

Selecting, securing, and operating a safe HEMS landing zone.

Read before using

This is a template. It is not your department's policy.

Tailboard templates are drafted as generic starting points aligned to national standards. They are nota substitute for your department's own review or for adoption through your Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ). For topics carrying significant exposure (use of force, medical scope, civil rights), route through qualified counsel before adoption.

Every placeholder marked [BRACKETED] must be completed before adoption. Every section must be reviewed against your department's staffing, apparatus, water supply, EMS scope, geography, and the specific laws of your state. What applies to a career department in a city may not apply to a volunteer department in a rural jurisdiction, and vice versa.

Standards, regulations, and best practices are updated regularly. Verify the current edition of every standard cited before adopting this document. Once adopted, this document becomes your department's responsibility — not Tailboard's.

Want this tailored to your department?

Open it in the Policy Builder. Answer a few questions about your staffing, apparatus, and conditions — we'll adapt every section to match.

Number

SOG-240

Version

1.0

Last reviewed

2026-05-01

Next review

2027-05-01

Summary

This SOG establishes how [DEPARTMENT NAME] selects a landing zone for helicopter EMS (HEMS), secures the area, communicates with the aircraft, and transfers care safely.

Definitions

Landing Zone (LZ)
The area selected for helicopter approach, landing, takeoff, and patient loading.
LZ Officer
The member designated to communicate with the aircraft and oversee LZ safety.
Hot Load
Patient loading with rotors turning. Allowed only with specific HEMS service approval and operational requirement.

Purpose

To enable safe HEMS operations by establishing site, communications, and patient-transfer standards on every call where a helicopter is requested.

Scope

Applies to all incidents where HEMS is requested or arrives, regardless of which agency requested.

When to Request HEMS

  • Major trauma where ground transport time to a trauma center exceeds 30 minutes.
  • Time-critical pathology (STEMI, stroke, severe burns) with ground transport time exceeding capability of nearest receiving facility's capacity.
  • Entrapment with extended extrication time.
  • Multiple critical patients beyond ground transport capacity.
  • Specific authorization per regional EMS plan.

LZ Site Selection

Size

  • Minimum 100 × 100 feet daytime; 100 × 100 with clear flight paths at night.
  • Larger is always better.
  • Avoid funnels or bowls where rotor wash can compress.

Surface

  • Firm, level (less than 8-degree slope).
  • Free of loose debris, sand, gravel, snow that will become rotor-borne missiles.
  • Wet down dusty surfaces if practical.

Obstructions

  • No overhead wires, trees, poles, antennas within the touchdown area.
  • Identify and report any obstructions within 500 feet.
  • Avoid soft sand, deep grass, soft sand.

Access

  • Ground access for an ambulance.
  • Distance to patient — coordinate carry vs. transport-to-LZ.

Marking

  • Daytime: cone the four corners. Wind sock or sock-equivalent (flagging tape on a long stick) at the upwind corner.
  • Nighttime: vehicles parked at corners with low-beam headlights pointed inward, never directly at the touchdown point. No spotlights toward the aircraft. No strobes.
  • Mark hazards (wires, fences, light poles) with light or with verbal direction to the pilot.

Communications

  1. Establish radio contact on the HEMS air-to-ground frequency.
  2. Provide: location (lat/long, prominent reference), wind direction and speed, obstacles, patient condition summary, ground contact name and callsign.
  3. Direct the pilot to the LZ — pilot makes final approach decision.
  4. Inform the pilot of any change in conditions (vehicle movement, civilian approach, hazard discovered).
  5. Do not approach the aircraft until signaled by the pilot or crew.

Personnel Safety Around the Aircraft

  • Never approach the rear of the aircraft — tail rotor.
  • Approach only from the 9–3 o'clock arc, from the front and visible to the pilot.
  • Stay below the rotor disk plane — crouch.
  • Hold loose items: helmets, hats, papers.
  • Eye protection during approach and landing — wear sunglasses or goggles.
  • No tools or long objects above shoulder height.
  • Keep all civilians, media, and non-essential personnel back 200+ feet.

Patient Handoff

  1. Verbal report from the ground crew to the flight crew at the aircraft or staging point.
  2. Use the structured handoff format: identification, mechanism, injuries, treatment, response.
  3. Transfer of equipment (oxygen, monitor cables) as agreed with flight crew.
  4. Transfer of IV access — confirm.
  5. Patient secured per flight crew direction.
  6. Cold loading is the default. Hot loading only if specifically required by patient condition and flight service.

Aborting or Diverting HEMS

  • Weather, mechanical, or operational issues may cause HEMS to abort or divert.
  • Have a ground transport plan ready before HEMS arrives.
  • Pilot makes the final decision on go / no-go.

Post-Mission

  • Document HEMS service, registration if possible, flight crew names, time of patient transfer, destination.
  • Inspect LZ for foreign object debris (FOD) before turning the area back to normal use.
  • Debrief crews on what went well and what to change.

Training

  • Annual LZ ops training, ideally joint with regional HEMS service.
  • Tabletop quarterly.
  • Officer-level training on LZ Officer role.

References

  • AAMS Safety Resourcesaams.org
  • NEMSPA / NAEMSP HEMS Guidancenemspa.org
  • FAA Helicopter OperationsFAA AC 90-95
  • Regional HEMS Service Operations Manual[INSERT SERVICE NAME]

Adapt this template

Before this template becomes your department's policy, review the following items and adjust accordingly. Anything else that does not match your operation should be updated as well.

  • List the HEMS service(s) covering your region with contact frequencies.
  • Identify pre-designated LZs in your district.
  • Coordinate joint training cadence.
  • Cross-reference EMS Response SOG and Mass Casualty Incident Triage SOG.

Adoption signature

Adopted by (Name, Rank)
Signature
Effective date
Next scheduled review

Before adoption checklist

  • ☐Replace [DEPARTMENT NAME] throughout the document.
  • ☐Complete every [BRACKETED] placeholder.
  • ☐Confirm the current edition of every cited standard.
  • ☐Check against your state statutes and state fire marshal rules.
  • ☐Route for chief review. Topics with significant exposure (use of force, medical scope) also go through qualified counsel.
  • ☐Confirm alignment with any mutual-aid agreements.
  • ☐Schedule a training plan for the new policy before effective date.
  • ☐Announce adoption in writing to all members. Archive the prior version.
  • ☐Set the next review date — annually at minimum.