Flight medic question

[Just Plain Ruff]

Here is the text from the NAEMT site on how to become a flight medic. Maybe this should be in the knowledge base

All credit goes to the NAEMT site.

Give Your Career Wings: Making the Jump to Flight Medic

For some EMTs and paramedics, flight EMS is an exciting, rewarding and challenging career path. These “angels in flight” play a life-saving role when a patient’s condition requires critical care during transport, or when distance, inaccessible locations or road conditions prevent timely care and transport.

Trained to think on their feet, air medical crews are required to have extensive prehospital, emergency and intensive care experience, as well as extensive training in caring for critically ill patients in the airborne environment. A pilot, flight paramedic and flight nurse comprise the transport team on every patient flight to ensure safe, quality patient care.

According to the National Flight Paramedics Association (NFPA), approximately 1,200 flight paramedics are working in 277 rotor-wing (helicopter) and fixed-wing (airplane) medical programs in the United States. Most of these are hospital-based.

Rotor-wing aircraft are used for short flights (usually less than 300 nautical miles roundtrip) and often are used to land directly at the scene of a serious emergency or accident. Fixed-wing aircraft cover greater distances and may even fly patients across international borders.

Since the inside of the aircraft contains a mini-intensive care unit to handle just about any crisis, most flight medics are required to have a minimum of five years critical care experience.

Tom Walsh, a flight paramedic with Albany Med FLIGHT in New York, says that the most attractive candidates have experience in a progressive, high-volume EMS system. To obtain these credentials, some individuals may require relocation to gain the necessary pre-flight employment experience.

According to Kerry Armentrout of Life-Guard 10 in Roanoke, VA, most flight programs also want a Nationally Registered Paramedic with the following base credentials: CPR-Basic Life Support, ACLS, BTLS or PHTLS, PALS and NALS. The base credentials must also include a state level paramedic certification. Instructor credentials are preferred but usually are not required. Base credentials usually preferred for a flight nurse are CPR-Basic Life Support, ACLS, BTLS or PHTLS or TNCC, PALS or ENPC and NALS.

A new level of certification is sponsored by the NFPA called FP-C (flight paramedic-certified) is now available to all who are interested.

“It is not a test to be taken lightly, and the NFPA recommends five years experience as a flight medic before challenging the exam,” Armentrout adds.

Although candidates could have all the right credentials and necessary experience, poor interpersonal skills will seldom get them past an interview.

“Flight crews have to be self-motivated and possess strong critical-care thinking and clinical-decision skills. They must also have excellent leadership and diplomatic skills,” Walsh recommends. “Flight program directors look for those EMTs who are in the top one percent.”

Candidates should also be able to accept criticism. “To better assess a particular flight program, air medical crews have their calls reviewed all the time,” he adds. “You need thick skin because you will be scrutinized.”

Another tip in preparing for the interview is to learn as much as you can about the flight system and the people who work there.

Walsh and Armentrout both mention that flight paramedic jobs are competitive. For each flight paramedic opening, approximately 250 applications are received according to the NFPA Web site.

Armentrout says that turnover in the industry is slow, and five to seven years is considered normal attrition.

“When an opening does become available, most programs are now using behavioral interviews to screen candidates,” he says.

His final recommendation is to read any books on behavioral interviews.

“They’re a great help in preparation for the big day.”

For more information on career opportunities in flight EMS, visit www.aams.org, www.flightweb.com or www.flightparamedic.org.

Reprinted with permission from MERGINET.com, May 2004.

[EMT City Administrator]

Knowledge base article approved and is now viewable.