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Air Ambulance Intel

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I fLy pLaNeS

Living an Honest Life
Joined
Nov 16, 2003
Posts
129
How is the job market right now in this sector? I've always wanted to do this type of flying, and now that I am furloughed I figure here's a chance to explore it again now that I have more experience. Thanks.
 
I am furloughed as well and was lucky enough to get a postition flying medical flights. It is a great job and the crews I work with are very good at what they do and very cool to boot! I like it alot.

The job market is tight. My company has no openings for fixed wing. You may have to relocate for a job because alot of the fixed wing positions are in smaller communities that dont have adequate trauma centers....thus the need for transport to larger facilities.

Good luck!
 
How's the job market in any sector? See an opening, apply. It's that simple.

Not sure what you mean by "now that I have more experience." Do you mean you tried to do ambulance work before, but couldn't because you lacked the experience? At 1750 hours you're not exactly highly experienced right now, either.

Without knowing your background, it's hard to make any statements or provide any counsel, save for very general comments. Ambulance flying can be broadly divided into administrative transports, and emergency flights. (Which can further be broken down for helicopters to include scene transports, which adds a whole new level of hazard and demand).

Administrative flights can be planned and executed about like any charter or corporate type flight. Unlike an airline operation, however, you're hired to use your judgement and experience in flight planning to decide how to make the flight safely, if it can be made safely, and to arrange all aspects of the flight.

Emergency flights often involve a critical patient with little notice, and you need to be able to make decisions that affect not only the safe outcome of the flight, but the medical decisions made on behalf of the patient. You need to do this with only the safety of the flight in mind, with the ability to disregard any external pressure.

A woman has been run over by her own truck. She slid off the road in a snowstorm. While standing outside her truck, the truck was struck by another vehicle and it went over here, pinning her and inuring her. She has been extricated and has experienced not only physical trauma, but a heart attack. Weather is low at the pickup airport, a rural field with minimal facilities. Weather is low at the destination airport, some 200 miles from the pickup field. Due to road conditions this woman cannot be transported by ambulance; it's up to you. If you don't pick her up, she will die. What do you do?

If any of that paragraph catches your attention aside from the weather at the pick up field and the destination, then you're paying attention to external pressures that can get you killed. None of it is relevant or important when it comes to making the right choice. You should be aware that the wrong choice will possibly kill someone, including you...and the right one might too. You don't have an option of not making a choice....choose one. Either you go, or you don't.

This isn't the kind of decision making that you have been doing at an airline. Nor flight planning. Nor taking care of the aircraft, making fuel decisions, or weather decisions beyond the simple and the mundane. With ambulance flying, it's all on you.

This doesn't mean you can't do it. You need to determine if you can meet the insurance requirements for the operator at hand, for the equipment at hand. I spoke with an operator last year who was looking at 4,000 hours plus for pilots in the King Air 200. He could insure for less, but wouldn't acccept less experience. He had a very low turnover rate, a very professional operation, and a respected one. I've seen others that hire at the bare bones 135 minimums. I worked for one myself, as my first multi engine job.

With your flight experience, you might find a king air job, or you might find a twin piston job, or even a single job in a Pilatus, or something along those lines. Get on Climbto350 and other internet sites and see what's open. Ambulance positions open up with some regularity, but then some operators have a high turnover and some don't. As a good rule of thumb, you're far better off working for an operator that has a low turnover.

Be very cautious about the particular operation. Many operators let their flights be dictated and run not by the pilots but by the medical personnel. The nurses tend to make a lot more money than the pilots, and their opinions tend to carry more weight. In such an operation, when a pilot makes a safety of flight decision and the nurse tries to countermand it, the safest and best choice is to walk away. Always be prepared to do that if the need be...and be prepared for that occasion to arise if you operate in the ambulance business for very long.
 
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.......Be very cautious about the particular operation. Many operators let their flights be dictated and run not by the pilots but by the medical personnel. The nurses tend to make a lot more money than the pilots, and their opinions tend to carry more weight. In such an operation, when a pilot makes a safety of flight decision and the nurse tries to countermand it, the safest and best choice is to walk away. Always be prepared to do that if the need be...and be prepared for that occasion to arise if you operate in the ambulance business for very long.

Well said, avbug.
That "walk away" policy applies not only for air ambulance, but should be standard for all operations, charter, freight, corporate, 91/135/121. Just replace ".......nurses tend to make a lot more money......." with dispatcher/DO/boss/client/CEO as appropriate.
 
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Thank you for the thoughtful responses to my question. I realize this type of flying demands great responsibility; that’s one of the reasons I find it so interesting.

You’re correct, I have 1750 hours, and though it’s not much experience, I want to try. Thanks for the advice on what to look for in companies. That was very nice of you.
 
A woman has been run over by her own truck. She slid off the road in a snowstorm. While standing outside her truck, the truck was struck by another vehicle and it went over here, pinning her and inuring her. She has been extricated and has experienced not only physical trauma, but a heart attack. Weather is low at the pickup airport, a rural field with minimal facilities. Weather is low at the destination airport, some 200 miles from the pickup field. Due to road conditions this woman cannot be transported by ambulance; it's up to you. If you don't pick her up, she will die. What do you do?

At the outfit I'd like to get on with, they don't even tell you the circumstances of the patient. They only ask if the flight is possible.
 
IFP, there's good air ambulance, and bad air ambulance. The good operations are subsidiaries of hospital, or sole contractors, etc. They have set schedules, fairly good salary, and have built firewalls of some kind to keep the pilots from being pressured to fly. However, even with 5,000 hours at the time, I was a lowtimer there.

Then there's the other air ambulance: on-demand 135 charter stuff that takes the flights the "A" companies turned down. That kind of operation is no different than any other bottom-feeding 135 job. Imagine having your boss yelling at you: "That lady died because you didn't want to fly." (Disregarding the prospective flight into moderate icing, poorly lit, single strip NDB approach airport with a 30kt crosswind -- and btw you noticed the ancient RMI has been a little "sticky" in its needle pointing.) They're not all like that, but you get my drift.

I know of at least one, maybe two, pretty good operators if you're willing to live in the Boonies. If you PM me, I'll give you a Company. I have no idea if they're hiring, though.
 
Omniflight is opening a new base in Idaho. It will be staffed by 4 pilots and the aircraft is a PC-12. They are one of the good places to work. Check out the website.

Good luck!
 
All very good info. I just started with an air ambulance company that was only helicopters and has added a king air for long range transports of burn patients. The key for me is the people are great, the schedule is excellent (7 on, 7 off) and as mentioned above, when the trip comes in, no details, just where the trip is to - pilot check the weather and determine if able to go. Chief pilot and DO both are very safety oriented and don't want anyone to go if there is slightest question of able to finish the trip.
Scenario...patient needs to be picked up, has severe burns over most of body and it will be at least two hours from facility to facility in transit. Start the trip and even knowing that weather is questionable for return, we go anyway. On way back, with the patient fighting for his life, weather goes to h**l in a hand basket and we have to land 100 miles away. Now it will be 1/2 hour or so to get ground transport to pick up patient and start towards burn center for another two hours of transport time. Patient dies enroute. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't like to think that I would have to live with that decision for the rest of my life.
Having a life in the balance adds a dynamic that most of us wouldn't ever have to consider for most any other trip we fly.
that's my $0.02 worth.
 

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