KingAirDriver

Haha, I've got a few of those Winter storm stories myself.

I would add that the Company you work for will probably be the deciding factor in how much you enjoy the job. (Doesn't that hold true for every job?! Ha!) If your employer has your back and supports your "No-go" calls then it's wonderful. Towards the end of my time with my EMS gig the management were trending towards being a bit more pushy and some poor decisions were starting to pop up across the company.

One of the hardest things to do is separate your feelings for the patient. May sound heartless, but if you get emotionally attached to a trip (maybe it's a newborn) then you risk growing that error chain considerably. Kinda like the frog in a pot of water analogy- normally, you'd probably stop and say "this is stupid." I was just talking with a coworker about this the other day: we're always going as fast as we can; it's just like any flying job, so there's nothing else you can realistically do. Just do the job and don't cut corners. Sounds obvious, but it helps.

deadstick35

No joke. This is a dynamic job. Throw a med crew and a patient (could be a neo, trauma, cardiac, etc) into the mix and things can snowball into a mountainous cluster pretty dang fast. If so, STOP. Reevaluate the situation. It doesn't help to start the trip with 1 patient and end with 5.

todd405

I fly for a children's hospital and totally agree you can't let your emotions get involved in the flying...learned that the hard way.

Pony Express

Just curious, but I wasn't aware that many hospitals had FW air ambulances? I've heard of lots of RW setups but not as many FW. How common is that? How far from the hospital is the aircraft based?

Ultralight

Good advice. Also mechanical problems. Would you continue if you didn't have a patient on board? If the answer is no, you have to go back and not beat yourself up over it.
I think air ambulance is a great gig, but remember. Rotorcraft medevac don't fly IMC. When the weather goes to carp, the fixed wing guys phones start ringing off the hook.
Very rewarding job. Much more satisfying than flying a bus, or some fat wallet in his expensive jet. Pays $60,000 - $80,000 a year.

todd405

I have only been doing this for 2 years but it doesn't seem very common for the hospital to own the airplane. I work for the 135 operator that manages the aircraft for the hospital. The other 4 bases we have our company owns the airplanes. The hospital does have a helicopter that is at our hangar.

We are probably about 15-20 minutes from the hospital. Pretty cool setup though...medcrews, pilots, aircraft, and ambulances all stationed in 1 hangar.

tlove482

I wonder if i'll really learn anything between 200hrs and 500hours of ME time. I've done the single pilot night time short field approaches in singles plenty. Add the two together and I think i'm ready for that. I'm sure I'll be humbled when I have my first real emergency in a twin though. I guess i'm a little overconfident from all the single engine time I have. I've gone through plenty of emergencies in those.

LJ JE

Experience is everything in this industry (aviation in general, not just EMS); Actually experiencing things first hand, not just knowing the theory and procedures like the back of your hand. No offense, but newer pilots always feel the way that you do, it is pilot nature to be extremely self confident. Every experienced pilot has had several humbling wake up calls during the course of their career that makes them realize why these hiring minimums exist.

I've been doing air ambulance for about 1 year now and I can honestly say it's by far the easiest job I've ever had. However it can occasionally get challenging and about .01% of the time it will test all of your accumulated experience.

Single pilot, unfamiliar rocky mountain terrain, weather at minimums, bumpy as hell, minimal time for flight preparation, second mission of your shift, middle of the night (kind of groggy), four people in the back. Then add an emergency to the situation. That is why insurance minimums are high and any respectable operator will have minimums that are even higher.

I have 4500 hours, 2300 multi and consider myself a new pilot. I don't know how long it will take me to "not" consider myself a new pilot in the eyes of my peers who have 2-4x the amount of flight time and have experienced 2-4x as many things in the aircraft. Confidence is standard and very important in a pilot, but true self awareness and humility may be even more important.

tlove482

I see your point. I'm just anxious to progress. EMS piloting is something that i've always wanted to do. I'll keep plugging away. Hopefully I'll get there before I have 8000 hours of TT

gsoflyer

Could any of you guys working in air med care to answer my original question... ;-)
Just wondering about schedules.... :-)

Thanks!