Design standards for an airborne rescue valise for infants and small children

Helicopter rescue operations involving airborne extraction of infants and small children are particularly difficult due to the size of the child, the unpredictable behavior of the child during the extraction process and the lack of a suitable extraction device. Through a consultation process with Search and Rescue helicopter operators, flight crew and rescue paramedics, suggestion has been made for development of a certified Child Rescue Valise (CRV) to assist with the extraction of infants and/or small children. The CRV construction resembles a sturdy outdoor camping bag that has been specifically designed, tested and certified for aviation use. Currently, there is no recognized safety standard has been set to provide the minimum safety requirements for the CRV design and consequently no products in the market are certified for helicopter winch rescue missions that involved child or infants. For this reason, a minimum safety requirement standard has been developed based on AS/NZS 1891.1:1995 (Amdt 4) and the applicable section of FAA FAR Part 29 for Personnel Carrying Device System (PCDS). This standard provides certain design guidelines and requires the manufacturer to demonstrate the capability as well as reliability of the CRV through various safety tests set out by this standard.