Are Medevac Flights Unsafe?

An editorial in this morning's paper contains some rather interesting statistics, positing that emergency medical flights are far less safe than any other kind of flying. Pointing to higher crash and mortality rates, the author questions their safety and suggests some common sense requirements (terrain following system, a second person to operate radios while the pilot flies).

That said, I don't see a lot of "cost/benefit" analysis done here. Ok, so there have been an number of fatalities associated with these flights. How many were made without fatality? How many lives were saved as a result of expeditious transit?

Yes, make the flights safer, but don't raise too big an alarm because of a recent tragic crash.