Maryland Flight Nurses

[NeuroNP]

Is there any opportunity for Flight nursing in Maryland? I was interested in working part time at STC in Baltimore and part time flying, but it looks like all the flight work is done by the MD State Police (and no nurses at that!). What's the deal here? From what I can find, the MD State Police aircraft are staffed by a pilot and ONE Medic?! No nurse, no 2nd Medic. I've flown as an observer on scene flights for our Level I trauma center and most of the time the nurse and the medic have their hands full (I've even been asked to help out at times...shh...). I can't imagine doing it all alone!

[TraumaNurse]

There is not much oportunity for flight nurses in Maryland b/c it is run by the State Police. I am not sure of their full configuration, but it is only medics and no flight nurses.

JH has a transport team that uses flight nurses but I think they only have ground and fixed-wing (No rotor unless by State police). I could be wrong about that.

If you really want to be a flight nurse, than Maryland is not the place to be! However, Shock Trauma would give you good experience on your road to flight nursing. Best of luck.

[CraigB-RN, MSN, RN]

I'm thinking MedStat has a chopper in MD.

[1RNEducator]

Actually there are some opportunities to become a Flight RN in MD outside of the MSP. Two hospital flight programs are located in MD. The first is Johns Hopkins who has an extensive transport program that includes ground, rotor and fixed wing. The rotor wing program (one helicopter) primarily transports critically ill patients to Hopkins, although it does transport patients to other facilities. The primary mission is interhospital transport. The flight program is a partnership between Hopkins and STATMedevac, whose headquartered in Pittsburgh. I believe STATMedevac is the largest EMS Air Medevac program in the US. It has bases throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio and one in MD. The flight crew on the helicopter is RN/Medic.

The other helicopter service in MD is through the Washington Hospital Center or MedSTAR. MedSTAR has 2 bases in MD. One in Easton and one in southern MD. It is my understanding the third base they once had in MD, which was located in Frederick MD has been moved to Leesburg, VA. Hope this helps.

[EMTguy]

Stat 10 (the Hopkins helicopter) does fly pilot/nurse/medic, but all nurses for this program are provided by Hopkins, not by Stat Medevac- a unique arrangement, part of having the Johns Hopkins name on the side of the helicopter.

Rumor has it that the Frederick base is to be reopened in the next couple of months by either Stat or Medstar, as soon as a helicopter for this location can be found. If so, this will likely result in the creation of a new crew.

Rumor also has it that Medstar has a rather high turnover rate for Flight Nurses....

I've never been able to figure out how MSP manages with a med crew of one (when they need, they bring along an additional ground EMT or medic during patient transport from whatever scene incedent they're responding to), but appearently they manage to provide an adequate level of care. It does seem that those Dauphins would have plenty of space for an additional crewmember, though.

Good luck.

[DukePedsEducator]

I used to work in MD and know the MSP intimately (My uncle is a crew chief). They operate with one provider because their primary mission is Law Enforcement with transport of trauma patients second. If the patient is critical, then they will take along a provider to help (Which I did several times).

I also know about the Hopkins program becase I am friends with the CFN. There is another program coming to Frederick in the near future.

There are limited opportunities to fly in MD, which is why I left Shock trauma and relocated to NC and obtained my flight nursing job. If this is truly your intent, then you may need to relocate as well.