About 1,200 paramedics don’t spend anytime in an ambulance---at least a traditional one with four wheels.
Flight paramedics work on helicopters and airplanes, transporting critical patients to regional trauma centers. Some who work on airplanes transport patients who may need to go to another hospital either to be closer to home or for specialized treatment. Most are based out of a regional hospital.
“Air ambulances,” a term used to describe both helicopters and airplanes, often land at wreck or disaster scenes to give patients immediate help. The most recent high-profile incident happened April 12 in New Jersey when Gov. Jon Corzine was involved in a wreck on the Garden State Parkway. Some questioned the arrival of the air ambulance and wondered if a crew closer should have been called, even though the flight crew waited 13 minutes while the governor was extracted from his SUV by rescue personnel.
Coordinating the arrival of an air ambulance with fire and rescue crews on the ground is crucial in patient care. In some metropolitan areas, air ambulances are dispatched several times a day to transport critical patients. Any time spent waiting on a patient to be extracted could be detrimental to the next critical patient who need transporting.
Some areas of the country, such as northwest Georgia, can be served by different air ambulance services. It is not uncommon to see either an air ambulance from Chattanooga or Atlanta on the ground at a wreck scene. Sometimes this is due to patient or family request. Sometimes it is because the other service is unavailable.
Flight paramedics and nurses are extensively trained in how to managing a patient while in the air. But still, there are many risks associated with working in an air ambulance that professionals may not experience in traditional ground operations, according to the International Association of Flight Paramedics.
Those risks include:
- Hearing loss from the constant exposure to engine noise in excess of 120 decibels.
- The risk of contracting an infectious disease.
- Back injury and other lifting related injury.
- Exposure to heat and exhaust fumes.
- Even though crashes are rare, they do happen.
Most flight crews include of a paramedic, nurse and pilot. The pilot is not involved in patient care.
More information on air ambulances and career opportunities can be found at www.aams.org, the Association of Air Medical Services or at www.flightparamedic.org, the International Association of Flight Paramedics. The field is very competitive, with about 250 paramedics applying for each open position, according to www.flightparamedic.org.
Article provided by Kim Berly