To MEDEVAC, or not to MEDEVAC, that is the question.

deadstick

Well-Known Member
To those who Earn Money Sleeping,

1) What's your company's policy on filing status MEDEVAC?
2) Does it jive with 4-2-4(b) and JO 7110-65W?
3) Are you shielded from patient information? If so, what's your impression of the all caps portion of paragraph 3 under 4-2-4 and the CAMTS.

NOTE: This is not intended to be a discussion of "The AIM isn't regulatory."
 
I'm going with what @ppragman said but the other, and I think more technically correct way unless company policy precludes it, is to use HOSP instead of MEDEVAC on the empty leg en-route to patient pickup, ex "HOSP-12345."

Otherwise on the ride home it's just garden variety N12345, unless I get a diversion to another pickup while en-route, at which point I'll advise ATC to change my callsign back to MEDEVAC-12345.
 
ppragman is right on. I've never used HOSP, I will have to read up on it. Both EMS places I have worked have shielded me from patient info. It does slip from time to time but by that time the decision has been made. You will see the patient us close and personal though. Mostly just loading and unloading but they aren't all pretty.
 
ppragman is right on. I've never used HOSP, I will have to read up on it. Both EMS places I have worked have shielded me from patient info. It does slip from time to time but by that time the decision has been made. You will see the patient us close and personal though. Mostly just loading and unloading but they aren't all pretty.

And some smells never go away.
 
And some smells never go away.

I burned the crap out of my nosehairs about 13 years ago or so in a highschool welding class. That's actually come in handy more than once in this career.

The only smell that's really gotten to me was from an individual who was burned by a very delicious type of food that boiled over and sprayed boiling hot glazing sauce all over the person (I'm obfuscating here a bit, but you get the picture). The person was messed up pretty bad from the burns, but the juxtaposition of an incredibly delicious smell with a horrifying visage of extremely bad burns was worse than any nasty GI bleed I ever smelled, and means I still can't eat it.
 
If I am going to pick up a patient, medevac. If I have a patient on board, medevac. Else I'm just another GA airplane out tooling around.

This is what I've done for years.

All this came up when a pilot and former ATC guy pointed out those references in #2 of the first post. I'm still curious about point in #3.

We (still) do so many routine transfers, and I have been 1 of 3 L/ aircraft converging on the same airport.

4-2-4(b)(3)
"IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THE COMPANY/PILOT DETERMINE, BY THE NATURE/URGENCY OF THE SPECIFIC MEDICAL CARGO, IF PRIORITY ATC ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED."
 
If I am going to pick up a patient, medevac. If I have a patient on board, medevac. Else I'm just another GA airplane out tooling around.

At our operation, we do not have a medical crew standing by for the airplane. If we have enough time we will call in the on call med crew, but sometimes we steal one of the helicopter med crews. Since that base is down until I get them their medics back, I will use Medevac on the empty homebound leg.
 
At our operation, we do not have a medical crew standing by for the airplane. If we have enough time we will call in the on call med crew, but sometimes we steal one of the helicopter med crews. Since that base is down until I get them their medics back, I will use Medevac on the empty homebound leg.

That just sounds like your company is asking you to gum up the ATC system to cover for its lack of proper staffing.
 
"Oh - that smells like poo, death, and alcohol poisoning, I guess we've got another GI bleed. Anyone have any Vicks?"
We get enough of those off the rez that I carry a small tub of Vicks in one of my flight suit pockets...
 
Vicks and aviators oxygen are a bad combo...

Risk of severe facial burns and potential death balanced against enduring the smell for an hour. Tough one.

Just remember, chaps, smells are particulate. If you are smelling something, you are inhaling chunks of it. Enyoy!
 
Risk of severe facial burns and potential death balanced against enduring the smell for an hour. Tough one.

Just remember, chaps, smells are particulate. If you are smelling something, you are inhaling chunks of it. Enyoy!

Right...it seriously is. At a certain point some of the odors could be come a...dare I say it...a safety hazard for how distracting they are. Personally, I set the King Air vents to open and blow directly on my face with the fan on high 100% of the time. Works good lasts a long time!
 
Right...it seriously is. At a certain point some of the odors could be come a...dare I say it...a safety hazard for how distracting they are. Personally, I set the King Air vents to open and blow directly on my face with the fan on high 100% of the time. Works good lasts a long time!


No kidding. Works pretty well.
 
Right...it seriously is. At a certain point some of the odors could be come a...dare I say it...a safety hazard for how distracting they are. Personally, I set the King Air vents to open and blow directly on my face with the fan on high 100% of the time. Works good lasts a long time!
I find closing the cockpit door in some situations helps shield odors too....
 
To those who Earn Money Sleeping,

1) What's your company's policy on filing status MEDEVAC?
2) Does it jive with 4-2-4(b) and JO 7110-65W?
3) Are you shielded from patient information? If so, what's your impression of the all caps portion of paragraph 3 under 4-2-4 and the CAMTS.

NOTE: This is not intended to be a discussion of "The AIM isn't regulatory."
My company designated medivac flights as “ life guard “ if there is a patient on board. Life guard. If flight is on the way to pick up a patient “ Life Guard “. On your way home to park it no patient, no using the designation. Reason for that is the priority given when flight is under life guard designation. I was on a long final into the anchorage internatioal airport runway 14 and Airforce One was on final into Elmondorf Airforce base. Do to the life guard designation I flew over the top of that plane. It was awesome. To think neither my first office or I had a camera.
 
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