Experience flying medevac

[flyinghedgehog]

If anybody could share what it is like I would appreciate it.

I heard you end up sitting around a lot and sometimes get called out in the middle of the night. How do you feel about that?

What is it like when duty calls. Have you ever had to turn down a critical patient because you can't/ won't be able to make the flight due to adverse conditions? What is the most difficult aspect of the job? What kind of training do you receive apart from type rating and stuff like that? Is there any skills or trait you can develop to make you a better person for the job? After all patients are not quite the same as boxes, healthy people or camera equipment.

I would appreciate any info you want to share even if it does not answer the questions above. Thanks.

 

[Bonanzaman]

The company I worked for had a two week on/two week off schedule. On your two weeks on you would either be working a 12 hour night shift for the entire rotation or a 12 hour day shift. During my shift I was not required to be at the airport but some companies do it that way. Once I got a call I would head to the airport and usually be ready to go in 15-20 minutes. On night shifts it's possible to go all night without a call, get one as soon as your head hits the pillow, or be up all night doing back to back flights.

I have turned down flights due to weather, mechanical issues, and passenger weight. It's not easy but it's what you're paid for. Making safe decisions is critical and my attitude was always that I can't do anything to help the patient but fly the airplane, and if I can't do that safely then I have to leave them in the hands of other professionals.

The training I received outside of airplane specific training was basically just about loading the passengers. It's not the pilot's job to do anything else with the patient.

I don't know what I could tell a person to make them better suited for the job besides always putting safety first. I was asked when I was interviewed how I thought I would react to seeing gruesome injuries, blood, etc. I told them I honestly didn't know because I hadn't experienced any of that before. It turned out that that stuff never bothered me while I was doing my job (I can't stand watching gruesome videos or even a lot of "funny" videos where people get hurt) and I think that was helpful to completing some of the worse missions. I always had the mindset that the patients' emergency was not mine and the only thing I could do to help them was do my job well. At first I sometimes felt a little rushed, especially with a critical patient, and there were times I was worried about blowback for not accepting a flight but pretty quickly I decided that I had to not be influenced by the patient's issue or the company's desire to make money. The mission can either be completed safely or it cannot. That doesn't change based on your patient's condition.

Overall I enjoyed the work very much, but I will caution you to be aware of company culture and attitudes towards safety and maintenance.

 

[Pay2]

Your experience with what to expect will vary by company. When I flew medevac we were 7/7. One week of days and the other week nights with a week off in between. While on shift we had 10 minutes to make a decision after receiving the call then 10 minutes to be airborne after accepting the trip. Overall, my outfit was fairly low pressure. If the trip was doable we were expected to take it. If the conditions weren't right then we were expected to turn it down.
I will caution you on your statement regarding the difference between patients and boxes or healthy people. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE. Don't let the fact that your passenger needs medical attention effect your decision making. If I wouldn't fly boxes or healthy people in the given conditions then I won't fly a medical patient either. Keep in mind you are the pilot. Don't worry about what is going on in the back. There are medics there for that. Just make good pilot decisions just as you would any other flight. Medevac doesn't need heros. They just need good pilots making normal decisions. Boxes, patients, high networth individuals, organs, they're all the same to the guys up front.

 

[Bonanzaman]

Your experience with what to expect will vary by company. When I flew medevac we were 7/7. One week of days and the other week nights with a week off in between. While on shift we had 10 minutes to make a decision after receiving the call then 10 minutes to be airborne after accepting the trip. Overall, my outfit was fairly low pressure. If the trip was doable we were expected to take it. If the conditions weren't right then we were expected to turn it down.
I will caution you on your statement regarding the difference between patients and boxes or healthy people. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE. Don't let the fact that your passenger needs medical attention effect your decision making. If I wouldn't fly boxes or healthy people in the given conditions then I won't fly a medical patient either. Keep in mind you are the pilot. Don't worry about what is going on in the back. There are medics there for that. Just make good pilot decisions just as you would any other flight. Medevac doesn't need heros. They just need good pilots making normal decisions. Boxes, patients, high networth individuals, organs, they're all the same to the guys up front.

Great point. Regardless of what's in the back I am upfront! Most important thing to me is getting home to my wife when my work is over.

 

[flyinghedgehog]

I will caution you on your statement regarding the difference between patients and boxes or healthy people. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE. Don't let the fact that your passenger needs medical attention effect your decision making. If I wouldn't fly boxes or healthy people in the given conditions then I won't fly a medical patient either. Keep in mind you are the pilot. Don't worry about what is going on in the back. There are medics there for that. Just make good pilot decisions just as you would any other flight. Medevac doesn't need heros. They just need good pilots making normal decisions. Boxes, patients, high networth individuals, organs, they're all the same to the guys up front.

I agree. Wonder if I could do that, I tend to have too much empathy. I mean, no good having a pilot who can't keep a clear head. Someone I know whose background was flying cargo did not find it easy either. Would you say your personality help make you less susceptible to this or can I just be tough and I will get used to it eventually?

 

[Pay2]

I agree. Wonder if I could do that, I tend to have too much empathy. I mean, no good having a pilot who can't keep a clear head. Someone I know whose background was flying cargo did not find it easy either. Would you say your personality help make you less susceptible to this or can I just be tough and I will get used to it eventually?

Empathy certainly isn't a bad thing. We're all human. When I was flying medevac I had 3 kids at home under the age of 6, so flying neonatal patients or children would sometimes get me a bit choked up, but you can't allow that to change your decision making. You certainly do get numb to what's happening in the back though.

 

[NickH]

The flying is the same as if they are boxes. But the other parts of the job are not. Just as with corporate flying, there's more to serving a customer than the part in the cockpit. Interactions with the patient's family members require a degree of compassion and empathy.

Also, boxes generally don't smell as bad.

 

[dustoff17]

As others have stated, you can NOT make your aviation decisions based on ANY aspect of the patient (exception as mentioned below)!!

You have to assess the weather and every flight condition with one thing in mind: Can I safely get there, pick up the patient, and deliver the patient to the desired destination. IF you can do all of this, then add in: Can I safely get my crew and the aircraft back to its' desired destination. These are the only things you need to consider.

I told ALL of my med crew(s) the following: "My ONLY responsibility is to you, your families, and to my family. My goal is that we all go home to OUR loved ones at the end of each shift. If we achieve this and have the opportunity to actually get a patient to the hospital, then that's a bonus in my book! Patient transfer is not my main priority, we are. I don't want to know anything about the patient unless it involves pressurization requests (airplane) or preferred altitude (helicopter) based on your patient's current condition.

Working MedEvac is one of the most rewarding jobs I've ever had. When you get a person (and maybe a family member) to a care facility that they need, you KNOW you played a critical part in their lives. This is especially true if you end up on top of the gurney doing compressions on a patient as they roll you into the ER!
And whether, by the end of the shift/week, you fly or not, you go home knowing that you were there if needed. I always walked in the door with the same feeling of satisfaction. [as a side note, I miss this flying and would get out of corporate in a heartbeat if I could find a position that worked with my family situation]

P.S. @NickH couldn't be more accurate, your interaction with family members will make a big difference whether the patient lives or not. To reiterate what @NickH stated: always carry some Vick's vapor rub (or similar) and a barf bag because you'll never know when you need it. My guess is you'll need it when you pick up your first badly burned victim; but I'm just guessing here.....

 

[NickH]

It can be very rewarding, but it does depend on company and location. On the Rez, most patients don't need to fly, and many will walk on board for their $40k taxpayer funded airplane ride. Professionalism is key, but that does get pretty demoralizing if you care about making people's lives better.

 

[FlyingAccountant]

Working MedEvac is one of the most rewarding jobs I've ever had. When you get a person (and maybe a family member) to a care facility that they need, you KNOW you played a critical part in their lives. This is especially true if you end up on top of the gurney doing compressions on a patient as they roll you into the ER!

You ended up doing that as part of your role as the pilot? What am I missing, here?

 

[Dugie8]

You ended up doing that as part of your role as the pilot? What am I missing, here?

I've "bagged" patients. Held intubation tubes, passed syringes.

It's a team effort.

 

[FlyingAccountant]

I've "bagged" patients. Held intubation tubes, passed syringes.

It's a team effort.

That's pretty cool, didn't know that.

 

[dustoff17]

You ended up doing that as part of your role as the pilot? What am I missing, here?

Yes, but obviously I wasn't flying at the time! (that would take extreme skills that I do not possess)

I wouldn't put it in the category of "role as a pilot" but rather as part of a collective effort to help the patient. As I was shutting down, the med crew was loading on the gurney. They needed help with compressions so I jumped on and started pumping and counting as we rolled into the E.R.

I've "bagged" patients. Held intubation tubes, passed syringes.

It's a team effort.

This!!

 

[Boris Badenov]

It's varied, like everything else. I flew for a hospital program for kids, so it was occasionally heartbreaking, but it was also very safety-focused. Coming from freight, it was 180 degrees. If the hospital wasn't, then certainly dispatch WAS looking for reasons not to fly. Usually it was both, to the point of frustration. Thennnnnnnn you'd go and do a shift at a community ship where the medicoes had been allowed to think they ran the show, and you'd be grateful that you were on a hospital contract. MFers suggesting that you needed to break 14 hours not because anyone was dying, but because they really wanted some tacos. If I have any advice to give on that subject, get yourself on a hospital contract. MX was double check plus, and there was zero pilot-pushing. In all earnestness, if that job had a future in terms of equipment and pay advancement, I'd still be there. Plus, you know, if you have to be an aviation appliance operator, "saving" little kids is about as good as you're going to feel about it.

 

[A150K]

It's varied, like everything else. I flew for a hospital program for kids, so it was occasionally heartbreaking, but it was also very safety-focused. Coming from freight, it was 180 degrees. If the hospital wasn't, then certainly dispatch WAS looking for reasons not to fly. Usually it was both, to the point of frustration. Thennnnnnnn you'd go and do a shift at a community ship where the medicoes had been allowed to think they ran the show, and you'd be grateful that you were on a hospital contract. MFers suggesting that you needed to break 14 hours not because anyone was dying, but because they really wanted some tacos. If I have any advice to give on that subject, get yourself on a hospital contract. MX was double check plus, and there was zero pilot-pushing. In all earnestness, if that job had a future in terms of equipment and pay advancement, I'd still be there. Plus, you know, if you have to be an aviation appliance operator, "saving" little kids is about as good as you're going to feel about it.

Ha..I have come across this exact scenario....

 

[z987k]

In all earnestness, if that job had a future in terms of equipment and pay advancement, I'd still be there. Plus, you know, if you have to be an aviation appliance operator, "saving" little kids is about as good as you're going to feel about it.

If it did, I also would still be there.