Eurocopter AS 350/355/EC130 - Astar/Twinstar/Ecureuil
Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Rotorcraft
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Security
General Police / Security Involved
Procedure
We arrived on scene of a MVA [Motor Vehicle Accident]. Upon arrival the helicopter medical crew approached the patient who was still in the ambulance and had already been packaged and immobilized by the first responders. They proceeded to move the patient from the ambulance onto the aircraft. Due to the condition of the patient we decided to execute a rapid offload at the hospital. While doing so a Hospital Medical employee found a small semi-automatic pistol in the patient's back pocket. Hospital security was called. I suggest that during shift briefings we talk about being more vigilant in ensuring crew safety and preventing weapons from being carried onboard.
A medical helicopter flew a severely injured accident victim to the hospital where; upon removing the victim from the helicopter; they discovered he was carrying a handgun in his back pocket.