The Pedro Helicopter

There were two helicopters that really made me nervous when they brought in wounded/causalities. The Loach and the Pedro. I can only remember getting a causality off a Loach once but may times for the Pedro. Working nights when it was completely dark only made it worse. You see, the Pedro (Kaman HH-43 Huski) was short and had two rotor blades inter-meshing together and at an angle (at least while on the ground dropping off wounded. After it landed we*d stand in front of the Pedro with our litter (stretcher) on a gurney. The Pedro would have its spotlight on and it was blinding. Once landed, the pilot would get on his loudspeaker and walk us in to the chopper. He'd say take two steps to the right, a step to the left, etc. until we passed the blades. I could hear them twirling and wind gushing. Then we'd walk to the back of the Pedro and get the wounded off. One that I distinctly remember getting off was a blonde stewardess off (their title back then. The plane carrying GI's into Vietnam had hit turbulence and she was injured. Once we got them on the litter the crew chief would walk us out past the rotors. The crew chief always seemed to have a smile on their face. They probably saw the fear in me caused by those blades. It could be scary as the choppers landed, some damaged, some coming in very fast with casualties, etc. Although scary I didn't really have time to think about it. Getting the wounded and causalities into the ER as soon as possible is what mattered.