Transport Money Killing Flight Nurses
July 1st, 2008 by podmedic
With the death toll from air ambulance crashes nearing record numbers (16 so far in 2008, 2 short of the record of 18), I have to wonder when the FAA or other agency is going to wake up and realize that these services operate under a questionable emergency mandate.
These helicopters and fixed wing aircraft fly out to pick up patients who are in critical condition in an effort to bring them to definitive care. However, they often fly in questionable weather conditions when other commercial services stay grounded. The argument is made that it is an emergency situation.
What happened to safety first?
The truth of the matter is that these services are profit makers for their health systems, bringing in many more dollars than the transport fees charged to the patients. In fact, when you add up the critical care, advanced surgical interventions, and recovery and rehab fees these patients are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece!
I have talked to some local flight nurses and paramedics about how the safety processes work. It is often left up to the crews to determine if they think it’s safe enough to fly in questionable weather. A single dissenting vote and the helicopter stays on the ground. In the face of $100,000+ in lost income, though, I wonder if there isn’t some amount of pressure from above when a crew repeatedly opts for their own safety instead of taking a questionable transport call.
The fact of the matter is, when you compare commercial safety records to public service based med-evac helicopters like the Maryland State Police units, there is a broad divide. The MSP helicopters have hard and fast rules for safe flying conditions. They don’t break them, period. If they are grounded then the transport falls to the ground ambulances.
The same rules should apply to the commercial services. There should be no “gray area” where employees, under pressure from their bosses, are expected to make decisions about their own lives and the lives of their co-workers. We don’t need to lose more valuable flight nurses, paramedics, or pilots because of the greed and glory seeking practices of a few physicians and administrators waiting safe and sound in the hospital for their well-insured patient to arrive.
It’s about saving lives (our own included), and not the money!
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