Flight emt complaints

[Nolife]

Anyone have an emt complain about them.

A freind had one submit a safety corcern to the company about him for taxiing too fast, being too aggressive with reverse and brakes after landing, and finally turning too sharply while parking.

The flight in question was at night and the emt is a non-pilot but because they've been with the company for 5 years I guess that makes them honorary check airman and able to critique pilot technique.

The most disturbing thing about this was the way the DO took the emt's word over my friends, even after having personally flown with him several times.

 

[CaravanMan]

Most of our medcrew are pretty cool, and I get along with them all. There are a few who get grumpy every time a flight comes out...come on, if you don't like your job, leave! Another thing that ticks me off... We really don't fly through nasty weather and try to avoid it as much as possible. These same medics who are always grumpy are also the first ones to question any pilot about the weather, and say we shouldn't go...omg I hate that. We've [pilots] been flying for years and know what we're doing, so let us do our job! We don't tell you how to intubate someone!!

Anyway, aside from that, I've never had one of our crew write me up for anything. They all like me on both a personal and professional level, and I've never given them any reason to raise concern.

I was on a Neonatal flight one time (hospital sends their own crew for those) and they wrote "me" up because it was bumpy. It's summertime in the central plains, of COURSE it's going to be bumpy! Anyway, the next time I saw the lady who wrote "me" up I asked her about it and she felt horrible...she didn't know I took it personally and said it wasn't in any way to be directed at me. She just wanted to show some justification to the doctors in case the baby had any problems from the turbulence, which was light.

In general, the medcrew and pilots in our company communicate VERY well during flights. If they have a head trauma or other complication, they'll tell us to keep the cabin altitude low. If they need it smooth vs speed, they'll tell us. We normally do taxi faster while we have a long straight, but of course we slow down for turns...that's common sense.

The reasons you listed seem like everyday happenings here, within reason... If we're going into a short field and we're heavy, of course I'll use more brake and reverse, but if we're landing at home w/7000ft of runway, there's no need. Turning sharply while parking is the only one I could see justification for the crew... if they have a patient who's all broken up, or they're standing over them doing whatever it is they do, and he cranks that thing around and throws them onto the patient, or into the wall, then they might get a little upset. I take my turns really easily with the patient onboard. I hope your friend comes out alright!

 

[Nolife]

Nothing more than a carpet dance for my bud. The medic had a personal issue and decided to try to make it professional. I've also flown with the pilot and consider him to be extremely professional. BS complaint however too much leeway is given to people who have no frame of reference.

How does a non-pilot judge taxi speed from the back of the aircraft at night?

If no tires were blown, all objects in the airplane didn't move, how can you say that excessive braking and reverse was used?

Again, from sitting in the back how does the medic know the reason for the tight turn without asking, and again no objects where moved?

Management should know better. That's my point.

 

[CaravanMan]

I agree. It's an unfortunate situation, and a similar thing just happened here, but I will refrain from discussing any particulars.

One thing I can say about our crew though, is that several of them have been flying for 10-15 years here and, even though they're not pilots, they know when something's not right, or at least different. It gets to be really annoying sometimes too... we had a tire that was a little bit low recently- completely safe, but just needed a little fill. Anyway, I'll bet everyone of them said something about it before the day was over, lol. Sometimes they notice things that the pilot doesn't, and that can be a big help.

They don't like when lights come on that they know don't normally come on, for example... the fuel transfer lights. If I know we're going to burn the wings out then I'll say something ahead of time that they might see a light come on, but everything's alright.

 

[EdAtTheAirport]

Ten years in the business. All I can say is realize that you're dealing with educated people who deal with body fluids, death, emergencies far more often than we do, so they deserve some discretion. They aren't pilots, but they are at the top of their field!

As for the "summertime central plains" thing, learn to climb above the convection, then dive bomb down - even on short flights. Try it; it works. Two minutes of smooth air makes you look like a hero. ("I found some smooth air for you guys, but we have to descend now.")

You didn't mention equipment. If you're in a piston, then life sucks; but in a King Air, I flew 10,000 downwinds to avoid bumps. Works well, as long as your pitch changes are gradual.

Here's a secret: Adding flaps make your deck angle worse, so while gear helps, don't configure your flaps until late in the approach. Advice from an air ambulance veteran.

 

[CaravanMan]

As for the "summertime central plains" thing, learn to climb above the convection

Did that, it was on decent.

 

[Blues604]

Did that, it was on decent.

During decent on bumpy days we used to drop the gear and push the props forward on our c-90. We would drop like a rock and yet have a fairly flat deck angle. Approach would let us stay high for as long as we needed.

Our flight nurses were tops and in the four years I was there they really only complained about one guy. He was a cowboy and liked to yank and bank even with patients on board. He never learned to be a smooth pilot. And face it you never really know when the nurses are going to be jabbing some poor patient with a needle. The company finally canned him. I can say that I have never been so glad to see a guy go!

 

[Say Again Over]

If no tires were blown, all objects in the airplane didn't move, how can you say that excessive braking and reverse was used?

Very simple, the medical teams pay very close attention to the flying, some are a bit nervous. When one pilot operates different from the previous crews, they pay attention, maybe your friend needs to remember there are people on board.

 

[Nolife]

Very simple, the medical teams pay very close attention to the flying, some are a bit nervous. When one pilot operates different from the previous crews, they pay attention, maybe your friend needs to remember there are people on board.

I agree however the point was a non-pilot in the back of the airplane really has no grounds for critiquing technique. They don't know what the particular situation requires.

I've watched a ton of medical shows, was pre-med in college, and both parents are docotor and nurse respectively, yet I don't think that qualifies me to judge the actions of medical professionals who practice their trade everyday.

Sometimes people think that just because they ride in the back of an airplane enough they know what going on and can assign blame for things like turbulence, aburpt stops for various reasons, cross-wind landings, ect., on the crew.

A wise old man once said," a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing."

BTW... I in no way mean to belittle emt crews. I realize that there is routine and if something is different they notice however they should perhaps consult the professional before making their assumptions known to management in the form of complaints.

 

[TundraT]

Welcome to EMS, I’ve flew helicopter air ambulance for over 15 years and believe me I’ve seen it all and reading your thread show that it hasn’t changed since I left the business over 10 years ago.

You are probably between a rock and a hard place. You are probably contracted to the hospital which makes you a vendor. Over the years EMS operations have attempted to blur the line between contactor (pilot) and hospital (med-crew) an effort to in stow teamwork.

The EMS version of CRM now has your passengers (flight team) having a say in the operation of the flight. Most programs have a policy that anyone can cancel a flight if they are uncomfortable but only the pilot can make the decision to go.

I see most of the responders to this topic are all fixed wing pilots. You guys are lucky, most helicopter pilot have to live with the flight crew at the hospital during their 12 hour shift. This arrangement has also caused problems. There are a lot of mood swings in high stress jobs like EMS and no matter how close you think you are to the med-crew it is best to keep it strictly professional.

Your buddy is in a no win situation the best he can do is to follow the company procedures and aircraft flight manual. When I was an Aviation Site Manager on a trouble EMS operation similar issues were brought up after the fact. I instituted a program that after each flight the pilot and med-crew would de-brief and jointly fill out a debrief sheet with concerns. If there were no concerns everyone would initial flight ok. If there was a problem than it had to be addressed during the de-brief. If the problem it wasn’t addressed than and was brought days later it wasn’t a problem. This takes a good working relationship with the chief flight nurse for this to work. Good luck, you’ll need it.