Tag Archives: paramedic

Air ambulance service Part 5

Medical control

Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue - Florida, USAThe nature of the air operation will frequently determine the type of medical control required. In most cases, the available skill set for an air ambulance staffer is considerably greater than that of a typical paramedic. As a result, those operating in this environment will often be permitted by medical control to exercise more latitude in medical decision-making. Assessment skills tend to be considerably higher, and, particularly on interfacility transfers, permit the inclusion of such factors as the reading of x-rays and the interpretation of lab results. This allows for planning, consultation with supervising physicians, and the issuing of contingency orders in case they are required during the flight. Some systems operate almost entirely off-line, using protocols for almost all procedures and only resorting to on-line medical control when protocols have been exhausted. Some air ambulance operations have full time, on site medical directors with pertinent backgrounds (e.g., emergency medicine); others have medical directors who are only available by pager. For those systems operating on the Franco-German model, the physician is almost always physically present, and medical control is not an issue. Continue reading

Air ambulance service Part 4

“Heavy-lift”

A final area of distinction which requires mention is the operation of truly large aircraft, generally fixed-wing in nature, as air ambulances. In the past the infrequency of demand for such a service in the civilian sphere meant that the majority of such operations are confined to the military, which requires them in support of overseas combat operations. Military organizations with a capability of this type of specialized operation include the United States Air Force, the German Luftwaffe, and the British Royal Air Force. Each operates aircraft staffed by physicians, nurses, and corpsmen/technicians, and each has the capability of providing long distance transport, along with all required medical support, to dozens of injured persons simultaneously. Continue reading

Air ambulance service Part 2

Air ambulances were useful in remote areas, but their usefulness in the developed world was still uncertain. Following the end of the World War II, the first civilian air ambulance in North America was established by the Saskatchewan government in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, which had both remote communities and great distances to consider in the provision of health care to its citizens. The Saskatchewan Air Ambulance service continues to be active as of 2011. Continue reading