Flight Nursing

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What makes up a flight crew in real life? I saw that show Trauma tonight and it seemed very unrealistic. They had a pilot and a doctor in the helicopter that made up the crew. I thought in reality it's made up of a RN, RT, and a Paramedic? Just out of curiosity...

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Specializes in SRNA.

pilot, rn, paramedic or rt is what i usually see.

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helicopters that land on our helipad have two pilots and an RN in the back doing patient care. God, I love the smell of jet fuel and the downward force of wind through my hair when they land! Very exciting.

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In the United States, the typical crew consists of a paramedic and a registered nurse. Respiratory therapists are associated with special care transport teams as well as neonatal nurse practitioners and physicians.

A single provider crew is almost unheard of. Maryland State Police flew single paramedic, then had a first responder fly along with the mission. However, MSP does not do critical care facility transports and I am unsure if they still have this configuration.

Outside of the United States, the crews vary; however, many other countries such as Australia and South Africa are highly physician driven and have primary crews that consist of paramedics and physicians.

Jomo, are you in the United States? If so, I would suspect the second pilot may not be a pilot. It is not uncommon for a crew member to fly up front and act as a second set of eyes for the PIC depending on the type of aircraft and configuration. I am unaware of any service that only has one RN providing all of the care in a HEMS configuration in the United States.

From what I gather, this Trauma show is roughly equivalent to nurse Jackie, Grey's Anatomy, and so on. Therefore, it would be foolish to think this represents HEMS.

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I think Rabbit was a medic, not a doctor. The entire show was hokey and dumb to me. My medic friends stopped watching in the first 15 minutes.

But yes. A 1 person crew isn't the norm.

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I think Rabbit was a medic, not a doctor. The entire show was hokey and dumb to me. My medic friends stopped watching in the first 15 minutes.

But yes. A 1 person crew isn't the norm.

Ya, I agree. The show is stupid. I don't think it will last long.

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I live in Southern California. I always thought the guy sitting next to the pilot up front was a pilot, too. It doesn't make much sense to me of what value a caregiver sitting up front would be? The two guys up front are usually dressed identical, too. The caregiver in the back wears different attire. Is it the same for every configuration in USA?

The pilots up front almost always look absolutely delicious. Yummy, yummy, yummy. Totally off topic, I know, but there's no denying that them are some hot guyz!!!

Firefighters and police officers too. Tanned and muscular. Oh. My. Word. As you can see, I love the eye candy that comes through the doors of the ER.

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^^^ HAHAHAHHA! I was talking to a friend of mine about this tonight. He's a firefighter/EMT and HATES groupies. I told him if he wasn't so yummy he wouldn't have them. =)

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I live in Southern California. I always thought the guy sitting next to the pilot up front was a pilot, too. It doesn't make much sense to me of what value a caregiver sitting up front would be? The two guys up front are usually dressed identical, too. The caregiver in the back wears different attire. Is it the same for every configuration in USA?

The pilots up front almost always look absolutely delicious. Yummy, yummy, yummy. Totally off topic, I know, but there's no denying that them are some hot guyz!!!

Firefighters and police officers too. Tanned and muscular. Oh. My. Word. As you can see, I love the eye candy that comes through the doors of the ER.

Depends on the configuration. In some cases the PIC cannot see well in specific directions. For example, I fly in an AS350 B2 & B3. The tail rotor is located on the right of the tail boom and is difficult for the PIC to clear. Therefore, whoever sits in the nurse seat must clear the rotor upon landing and take off. I know of at least one service that flys a BK 117. The flight crew is in the rear compartment and a wall prevents direct PIC to crew communication. Therefore, it is critical to have a crewmember up front who can observe the scene from high and low recon and during landing. Remember, much information can be gained from a scene survey in addition to communication with ground units.

In addition, it makes allot of sense to have a crewmember up front. A PIC is typically sensory overloaded during critical phases of flight and having a second set of eyes can be very helpful for spotting hazards and looking up any information in the US terminal procedures or Airport Facilities Directory if needed.

The AC may have a dual PIC configuration; however, I would not advocate for having a single nurse in the back with the patient. This is sub par and dare I say dangerous care IMHO.

Do not worry about the eye candy guys. We are not all like that. In fact, I can guanantee that I am rather unassuming in the physical department on a good day.

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What is the typical career and education path for becoming an RN on a flight crew?

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What is the typical career and education path for becoming an RN on a flight crew?

Why not look at some of the threads dedicated to answering your question in this forum?

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Specializes in ICU and EMS.
A single provider crew is almost unheard of. Maryland State Police flew single paramedic, then had a first responder fly along with the mission. However, MSP does not do critical care facility transports and I am unsure if they still have this configuration.

As an EMS provider and officer in the state of Maryland, I can shead some light on this...

Maryland State Police do all scene transports, and will occassionally pick-up an inter-facility transfer. They fly with one pilot (typically civillian) and one paramedic/trooper (cross-trained so that they can function as a police chopper if need-be). The typical scene transport does not call for any additional personnel. If the patient is critical (priority 1), they only fly with one patient, and will take a provider from the scene (ALS or BLS... depends on the flight paramedic's preference). They will take two lower-priority patients, and depending on the circumstances, they may or may not take a scene provider. Inter-facility transports usually only go with the paramedic/trooper, but may require a nurse from the sending hospital. The paramedic/troopers are "critical care paramedics"-- with a wider scope of practice than the typical paramedic, which includes the ability to RSI.

This past spring, the MSP and Prince George's County Fire Department suffered a great loss when Trooper 2 went down. The pilot, flight paramedic/trooper, volunteer EMT from the scene, and one of the two patients were killed. Because of this, the staffing configuration is being re-evaluated, and could possibly change to more closely resemble the national standards.

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