Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) said several of its air ambulance vendors would not land helicopters at the hospital's Portland helipad on Saturday night due to a planned protest event involving lasers targeting aircraft, KGW reports. The event, promoted in a flyer as a "laser tag" gathering at the local US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building, encouraged participants to aim lasers at helicopters, which organizers claim regularly disturb the neighborhood as part of federal surveillance. OHSU warned that the resulting delays—patients would be flown to other airports and then driven 45 to 60 minutes to the OHSU hospital—could have serious consequences for trauma, heart attack, and stroke patients. Ultimately, however, the hospital announced Sunday that no patients had been impacted the night prior, per Oregon Live.
Hospital officials emphasized that the decision to avoid the helipad was made by vendors, not OHSU itself. Both the hospital and Portland police cautioned that shining lasers at aircraft is dangerous and illegal under state and federal law. "Aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft is a federal crime. This is incredibly dangerous for the aircraft personnel and for the public's safety," a Department of Homeland Security rep said in a statement cited by Fox News.
The protest comes amid rising frustration from South Portland residents over nightly helicopter activity, which many believe is tied to the increased federal presence in the city. The Port of Portland has acknowledged an uptick in noise complaints but says, "This appears to be related to federal law enforcement and/or military activity and is not a development the Port of Portland can control." Meanwhile, the FBI recently reported arresting four undocumented individuals after one allegedly aimed a green laser at a US Customs and Border Protection helicopter in late September.
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