Centre Hospitalier de L’Enfant-Jésus

A wind safety assessment for critical air ambulance operations

Centre Hospitalier de L’Enfant-Jésus, a leading healthcare facility in Québec, recently introduced a new critical care building with a rooftop helipad to enhance rapid medical transport capabilities. Hospital helipads are vulnerable to wind conditions influenced by architectural features and mechanical equipment such as rooftop laboratory exhausts. Additionally, helicopters are a source of pollutant and odor emissions. RWDI performed detailed dispersion modeling to determine how wind flows behave around the building and to optimize the design of exhaust stacks near the helipad. We also assessed the wind characteristics above the proposed helipad, providing the design team with targeted recommendations to mitigate adverse wind conditions and establish operational restrictions that minimize risk based on the local climate.