Air Ambulance
 

Lately I've been fancying the idea of working for an air ambulance. I've got 1350 TT 650 multi, 135 mins. Anybody know where to even start looking? Things to look for, places NOT to go, non-typed pilots ok... etc. ANY info is appreciated! I feel pretty clueless on this matter.

Start here to find the operators in your area:

Search Air Ambulance Operators

... then start sending out resumes! i did the air ambulance thing for a bout a year (flying a Citation II). It was a good gig, I really enjoyed it while it lasted.

Most Air Ambulance operators that I know of or my friends fly for all operate single pilot. PC-12, Cheyenne, King Air. They all require at least 1500 PIC Time. I'm sure there are some operators that operate with 2 crews, depending on the operation and aircraft of course.

I'm in the same boat as OldManReverend. Does anyone out there know anything about AeroCare, having one of their operations at Aurora, IL? Primarily, are they a single pilot operation?

I also have a more industry general question. I'm assuming there is a lot of on-call time. How long is your on-call time? Do your on-call periods change week to week or is it pretty stable? Generally, how much notice do you get with a flight?

The only time I heard of multi pilot crews were when the aircraft type required two crew members.

It is almost all on call. Either 12 or 24 hour on call periods. Response times (time from the call to engine start or wheels up) vary from 3 minutes (you will be sitting at the airport with the aircraft preflighted) to about an hour (can be at home).

Most of the single pilot and CA schedules I worked or heard of were 7/7, 14/7, and 20/10 (days on/days off). For FOs, could be the same as CA or virtually every day (you got your 24 hours off in some hotel somewhere). If the company has about two times as many CAs as FOs, expect to be abused.

The company I worked for:

Helicopter guys were 12 hours, 7/7. They were in an "apartment" (RV trailer or office with an adjoining quiet room) within 100 yards of the aircraft. They had 3 minutes to be airborne.

Fixed wing was 24 hours, 20/10. Of the 20 days on, I flew about half of those with most duty periods around 4-6 hours. Our call out time was 20 minutes to be at the airport, 45 minutes to be airborne. Built about 200 hours per year. Fixed wing requirements were 2000TT 500ME to fly a 421 (seems about standard). Prior single pilot, 135, and 400 series experience was a HUGE plus. Lear times were 5000TT with 1000 in type for CA, FO was similar to the 421 times.

I flew air ambulance in a citation II for a while . You were on call 24/7 unless you put yourself out on the "bigboard" had to be 30 min from the airport ready to go. PM me and I can give you contact info. I dont think they are looking for anyone and I dont think you have the mins either.

I have been looking into air ambulances for a while now and it seems like a good operator will work you 12 hr on then 12 hr off and 7 days on 7 off. They really like to see single pilot/PIC time and about 5000tt and 3000 multi turbine(I just talked with a chief pilot the other day). This was a very good company flying a Lear Conquest and King Air. I'm sure there are other operators with lower requirements though.

Each company is unique! Many of them are simply "regular" 135 charter outfits who also run one plane with a sled. Some are exclusively air ambulance some are not, some have good schedules, some do not, some fly Lear Jets, some fly Cessna 402's... saying what "most" companies do is pretty broad generalization, isnt it?:confused: Dont understand all the broad generalizations here! lol

Howdy y'all

This thread is a good opportunity to say 'hi' and introduce myself.
I fly FW air ambulance for more than 10 years worldwide, so maybe I'll share my $.02:

EMS flying is no-nonsense, no-frill business. 90% of your flight time will be at night, in lousy weather (that's the time when they need you) and with plenty of the UN-expected:

• I've had to load a 400lbs patient on a door because stretcher was bending too much and the hospital hadn't a strecher big enough. Well, we had to duct-tape this poor guy onto the door to load him;
• some aircraft don't have a cargo door or a loading system for the sled (aka stretcher). So you need EVERY hands-on you can get at 3AM. Your cute flight paramedics ain't strong enough to get a 320lbs gozilla through the door and the mechanic locked away the key to the forklift.
• You patient unexpectedly wakes up (because meds wearing off), gets up, knocks down the flight medics and tries to open the door because he needs to get back to his trailer (double-wide). He forgot getting his dog inside.
• buy me a beer and I'll entertain you for the next 48 hours with stories :)

Most operator will fly 'single pilot' with 2 flight nurses/paramedics in King Airs (90 and/or 200). In average your pay is $100/flight-hour and $50/80 per diem if you are out-of-town. Most operators will offer a base salary (normally $1000/week with 10 hrs of flying), in a good month (spring break and summer-time with lots of drunks, over-dosed and freeway lunatics) you'll fly 60-80 hours/month. The rest of the year is about 20-40 hours/month.
You will be on call. You have 45 min to 1 hour to get to the aircraft AND get all horses out of the barn (flight plan, clearance, pre-flight, chocks, ...). Remember:

1. you do this all by yourself!
2. At night! (FBO (if any) is closed, Twr is clsd, ...)

You typical load will be: 1 patient, 2 nurses, eventually a passenger (parent, when flying kid as patient) and ~200 lbs of medical gear.

So, now let's talk airplane: Most FW air ambulance provider run 401, 421 and King Airs. Well it doesn't make your night to get the above mentioned payload into a 421. IT JUST DOESN'T FIT and if it does, your tires will go flat. You are on these flights under critical W&B!!

Oh, did I mention that it will rain (eventually snow) and the weather will be lousy the least. Your flight is around 1 hour to 2 hours, depending on the trauma center you'll go and arrangements have been made. Peer pressure is immense (have-to-go-syndrome) from ALL participants in this gig!

Well, I am sure most of you get the picture by now: It is not that glamorous as it looks on TV :D

Well, now a few lines to your qualification:

you need to be nuts!
you need extraordinary judgment (comes with being nuts)
+ 2000TT
+ 200 turbine (King Air)
ATP
first class
special training part 135 for air ambulance

Jet operation is pretty much similar (just higher and narrower) :rolleyes:

Most of your TT and certificates is dictated by INSURANCE! Also, if your operator is 135 single-pilot, you can't log any SIC time as long as you have NON-crew-members on your flight. It's a complex topic and a thread by itself.

Well, actually I just wanted to introduce myself:
Hi - Cheerio

Great first post, very informative. Welcome to APC, we could use your input.

This is a pretty exaggerated example of air ambulance life. 90% at night just isn't the case, it's more than 50% during the day at the two companies I have worked for. You don't need to worry about "lousy" weather, if it's below minimums, you don't go. Being suckered into taking a flight because of peer pressure says nothing about the industry but speaks loudly of someone who doesn't have the ability to exercise the privileges of PIC. No one will ever make you go, it's your choice. King Airs are probably still the most common air ambulance airplanes I have seen but PC12's are getting more and more common and for good reason. Seriously, "your tires will go flat" and "critical weight and balance?" You sound like a news reporter who doesn't know much about what you're talking about and are just trying to over sensationalize. There's nothing critical about flying an aircraft near gross weight, you have performance charts and (I hope) experience, you know how the aircraft is going to perform. Aircraft are designed to fly at gross weight, it's a "normal" not "critical" operation. Both air ambulance operators I have worked for have been either 7 on 7 off with 12-14 hour shifts or 6 on 6 off with the same 12-14 hour shifts. We are typically expected to be airborne within 20-30 minutes from being called. [deleted]. From my experience (about 5 years in EMS) it is a much more professional operation than what [deleted] is leading you to believe. If you have any questions that you would like a realistic answer to, feel free to ask.

P.S. Contrary to popular belief, a good air ambulance pilot isn't worried about the patient in the back and he/she shouldn't be. Feel free to ask why.

bagofhammers,

so, you disagree with my point of view? Well, that's cool. What's not so cool is your need to insult people with a different understanding!?
That gives us a deep insight in lack of professionalism we all need to work on as pilots.

Maybe I am able to give a small advice? Agree to disagree - and you'll keep your credibility as a pro.

I am sure most reader of this forum are adult enough to understand the entertaining undertone in my post. Maybe I need to clarify: It is 'hangar flying' from an old guy who has been around the block.

Happy tailwinds for you my friend

I've talked and flown with so many pilots with stories like yours. It gets old after awhile. You can call it hangar talk or whatever you want but it still sounds like a Clive Cussler book to me. Sorry if I insulted you but I'm just not impressed.

And I'm not impressed either 'fly4usd'!
I have worked in Air Ambulance for 4 years and one thing I have to add or clear up is that YOU as a pilot should NEVER make the decision to go/no go based on the patients condition. As far as I'm concerned they are just chips and pop back there. You as a Pilot in Command should NEVER put 4 peoples lives on the line for the sake of ONE! THAT is being professional and treating our profession with the respect that it deserves.

Well said MTCowboy. That is the reason my screen name is bagofhammers, that's how I view the patient in the back. No disrespect to them but as the PIC, it's none of my business how they are doing. I've got a healthy body up front (me), two perfectly healthy souls in the back (my med crew), and a very expensive, revenue producing machine flying all of us around. In my opinion, these are not missions we are flying, I think that implies something to be completed at all costs. If it's safe and legal, I will go and complete the flight, but let's make it clear, I don't work for the patient in the back and I don't own the multi million dollar airplane I'm flying. It's my goal to bring the crew and airplane back in as good or better condition than when I left.

Hey Fly4usd, can you share what company you fly for?

FYI, I have flown air ambulance (American Care Air) and what you say does indeed sound very suspicious. Not trying to insult you, but just coming into a forum and posting this type of misleading information behind an anonymous screen name is pretty lame.

Great gig to work you build a lot of time fast.

I've heard it's more of a retirement job. It's actually what I want to do as a career, but it's hard to get into since most places I know of have pilots that aren't going anywhere.

698jet is being sarcastic in case anyone didn't realize it. You definitely do NOT build time anywhere near fast. I would have to agree though it is a great gig. Some operations move bases around a lot making it impossible to live where you work unless you just rent and move every time they decide business has dried up where they're at. Try to find an operator that isn't in an area that is saturated with air ambulance operators. The whole state of AZ is pretty much saturated with air ambulance operators so there is a lot of competition and a lot of musical bases.

You guys are funny! :D I have worked in the Air Ambulance field for 10 years now. There are so many different companies out there, you're probably all right in your own experiences. Their are the fly 24/7 gone all the time companies, and the ones that actually let you have a good quality of life. I work for one that gives us 5 on 5 off and you can respond from home. We fly Citation Ultras and King Air B2000's Every pilot flys both and we use 2 pilots for both. Our company is NOT a time builder, but gives you some great time at home with the family.
As for the 90% night flights.....That is NOT the case for our company. We do fly a lot at night, but we rotate the 12 hour shifts between day and night. (5 days, 5 off 5 nights, etc...) Still, I have more day time. We dont fly over to europe, so I am not qualified to comment on the 90% nights in that regard.

We DONT make decisions according to PT condition. We dont even know anything about PT. Its hard finding a good AA job, you pretty much have to know someone for the good companies, and there is little turnover. The companies that advertise a pilot position have turnover for a reason. (not going to go any further down that road)

All in all, I have had a great experience here....

[QUOTE=fly4usd;780737]Howdy y'all

[*]I've had to load a 400lbs patient on a door because stretcher was bending too much and the hospital hadn't a strecher big enough. Well, we had to duct-tape this poor guy onto the door to load him;[*]some aircraft don't have a cargo door or a loading system for the sled (aka stretcher). So you need EVERY hands-on you can get at 3AM. Your cute flight paramedics ain't strong enough to get a 320lbs gozilla through the door and the mechanic locked away the key to the forklift.

I'm Sorry but I have to comment on a few of fly4usd's comments. We both have been in the industry for 10 years, but l am confused with the weight issue??? 400 lb patient? seriously? the stretcher was bending!! and you actually decided to go ahead and load him? Sounds like you want a lawsuit to me... we have SOP's here and 300 lbs is our limit. We have had to leave paitents at the hospital because the nursing staff told us they were 300 lbs when in fact they were over 400. Not gonna happen at my company.....





You will be on call. You have 45 min to 1 hour to get to the aircraft AND get all horses out of the barn (flight plan, clearance, pre-flight, chocks, ...). Remember:[LIST=1][*]you do this all by yourself![*]At night! (FBO (if any) is closed, Twr is clsd, ...)

Pretty Dramatic.... Its not that difficult getting ready in an hour. Maybe if the weather is really low, you may need some more time to look for alternates, but dont paint such a misleading picture....:mad:

Peer pressure is immense (have-to-go-syndrome) from ALL participants in this gig!

:mad:C'mon dude! Seriously? Looks like you need to find a better company to work for if they make you do that.

Well, I am sure most of you get the picture by now: It is not that glamorous as it looks on TV

If you are looking for a glamorous job then be a victoria Secret model...:D

Everyone in the AA industry (that I know) is in it for the mission not the glamor.

Sorry if I insulted you, but had to straighten things out.

I flew air ambulance in the UK, as part of my regional job. The mob I worked for had the local public service air transport contract(s) for Shetland & Orkney islands (north of Scotland, in the North Sea/North Atlantic area) using BN2 Islanders. They also had the air ambulance contract across Scotland with the same BN2s.

Of course the rules are different in the UK but some aspects of AA are the same or similar. We ran a 3/3/3 roster in Shetland where I was based. Three days on day flights (inter-isle public transport + any air ambulance - AA had priority over the inter-isles), three nights standby (30 mins phone call to airborne) then three days off. UK's equiv. to 135/121 required a minimum of two nights off per week, starting 2200 & finishing 0600 hence three days off to capture the two nights.

Weather was typical N. Atlantic/N. Sea & of course varied with the season. Gale & storm force wind was common, along with snow & iced runways. No navaids in the outer isles & GPS wasn't allowed by the UK equiv. of the FAA. Jeez, I would have killed for a Garmin 430 & a GPS approach sometimes. 30 kt fog was also an issue if the Haar was present (a sea fog local to the North Sea). Other times the weather could only be described as made for flying. Smooth, vis unlimited, clear sky & even the northern lights to look at on the return flight north from Scotland.

Most of the time, doing or not doing a flight was an easy no-brainer (beautiful Wx or truly filthy Wx). Other times it was touch & go and that was an experience call. Occasionally the decision had to be to not go even though it was to the patient's detriment. 'Iffy' weather, or desperately ill with what should only be 'no-go' conditions but medical/family are pressuring is where you earn your pay. Like others have indicated, the pilot mustn't let safety decisions be swayed by the patient's condition. Having one person seriously ill/injured but not flown is rather different to having 3,4 or 5 people dead from a plane crash.

I got a great sense of satisfaction doing ambulance and would like to do it again now that I'm resident in the US. I've often wondered if the pay & conditions here are adequate to support a family & reasonable lifestyle.


As an aside, does the US have the legal option of declaring a 'mercy flight', like the UK & Australia? A mercy flight is one where a rule eg minimum equipment, duty times or whatever, may be deliberately ignored because life is at risk and doing the flight is the only way to preserve life?

As an ex 135 air ambulance pilot, I can back up EVERYTHING posted! I was based on an indian reservation and 95% of our patients were well north of 200 lbs. We'd always have the ambulance driver help us load the patients into the 414 and that was still a struggle. I'd always fly within 50 lbs of max gross weight

We'd pick up at really small airports (3500 ft long) in the summer time and DAs were pushing 10,000 ft so I was just getting past 80 kts and looking down at the numbers as I rotated. Talk about pucker factor.

The aircraft were well maintained but old. the 414 hasn't been built in a few years so all of ours were 1980s models and had seen a number of flight hours.

I always filed but the option was ours to fly VFR if we chose. I found it easier to file and have priority handling from controllers during the hour of terror that your patient is fighting to stay alive.

I wrote an essay about one of my flights. PM me if anyone is interested in reading it. Pretty shocking story. :)

Good luck in your decision.. I'm headed back to the airline but miss my days of flying sick folks around.

-G

medevac contract day rate?
 

Question: what would a contract rate PIC C90 for medevac (really only donor organ) flights be, in a pricey part of the country? I am familiar with day rates for part 91/135 for the same airplane but am thinking there might be a difference. For one, there's the critical flight issue (which may or may not be a factor) but also that most of these flights are midnight to 5 AM. This leaves the next day ruined for taking other contract flights with other operators

Thanks for the link but I am asking for an idea of C90 PIC on-call contract rate, not salary, for doing (obviously priority) organ donation flights. Any ideas?

I didn't see your post. It was something for the OP, and everyone else that might find it applicable. Unfortunately, I don't have any information about what you are looking for, but I'll be sure it pass it on if I come by any. :)

I would imagine that this kind of work isn't contract. You would be crossing the line between a contractor and an employee because they are requiring you to be at the airport, and as a contractor, they are not allowed to do that. It would put the company in a precarious position should a disgruntled employee come back with an attorney.

Contrary to conventional air ambulance staffing, it is on-call and contract rate. I am hoping to figure out a way to compare it with day-time part 91/135 contract rates for the same plane (also adjusted for cost of living location). Due to the nature of transplant surgery scheduling most of the flights are 2400-0600. One hopes for a premium for that but mostly because you'd be toast for any other income earning the following day.

South Florida has quite a few Air Ambulance operators. Flying is challenging, and tiring (I've worked here for >5 years... and about 1/3 to 1/2 of my flying is middle of the night). The tough part is it's 24/7 on call. The better operators are actually give you scheduled days off known the month before... some of the less reputible operators consider days off as days you don't fly. From Fort Lauderdale, you get to see a lot of the Caribbean and Central America, and a little South America, with a lot of returns to the South Florida, Northeast and Eastern Canada (though you never know I've done drops in California, and Pickups in Anchorage... been South deep into Brazil, and well North and West into Canada). Requirements for hiring vary by operator... and even within the operator depending on needs. I've seen guys hired with as low as 500 hours, and and over 1200 for an FO. I've seen guys hired with almost no multi time, to lots. The best thing you can do to find a job - if you're local - is to stop in periodically and drop off a resume. It may not lead to a job right now, but we've hired a few people because they have come back over time. To name a few operators in South Florida: National Jets (they also do passenger charter and have maybe 6?? airplanes based at FLL), Air Ambulance Professionals (based at FXE, 2 planes), Aero Jet International (based at FXE, 3 planes), Trinity Air Ambulance (based at FXE).

Good luck! If you want more info, PM me.

I have also been flying air ambulance out of the Fort Lauderdale area for almost 5 years now. I know a couple of companies will take someone with a good attitude and willingness to learn and be a team player over someone with a lot of hours. The reason for that being that the work is very demanding and the schedule is rough. During our busy season, which is in the winter, we pretty much fly around the clock. And like its been said already, most of it is at night.
I know that there are at least 2 companies that will be looking to hire in the near future, if not now. There is starting to be a lot of movement out into the airlines, especially the FO's.

Would you care to post the companies looking to hire?