Flight Medic Question ?

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Srt4ever

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So my main goal is to become a flight medic, for those who are in the field could you spare some insight into such things as....

1. What can you do to stand out from the rest ? I currently work for a hospital and level 1 trauma center and my first gig was at another hospital and level 1 trauma center, some flight companies require 3-5 years experience in a busy 911 system but being in south florida thats hard to come by unless your on a Fire Department and to be honest its over saturated with Fire/medics (Miami Dade Frie Rescue opened up last year 100 spots or so open this year with 9,000 applicants that applied between certified in something to non certified at all) I also have my AS degree in EMS as well as NREMT-P, BLS, ACLS, PALS, PEPP, and NRP waiting to take a PHTLS class, self studying ACE PREP Course by William Winfield to take the board test on CCP-C and FP-C.

2. Would a Critical Care transport team be enough to make up 911 experience ? I know a few private companies who run CCT calls that I could try to get on if its beneficial, besides the time Ive put in at the hospital between trauma patients and little time in the ICU picking nurses and doctors brains.

3. Do you get air sick in the helicopter ? I had a friend told me that he got sick up there, and Ive never been on a helicopter before I have test flown a Cesna 172 and that was a bumpy ride and I got sick on the way back.

4. Whats a typical day like ? is it mostly scene calls or Interfaculty transfers or mixture of both ?

5. Whats the pay like ? is it off years of experience ? is it beneficial to make a living as a flight medic or might as well try to become a flight nurse ?

Im in no rush to reach my goal however I want to make sure Im very prepared when I do get my opportunity to do so.
 
This question has been repeated several times on this forum and others. For lack of anything better to say, here's a quote from @Remi that we should have made a sticky months ago.

Remi said:
The best and only thing that you can do now to become an attractive candidate for a position as a flight paramedic is......drum roll, please......become the best ground paramedic you can be.

Work for a progressive 911 system. Learn to be calm, respectful of everyone around, and methodical, even on the most hectic scenes and with the sickest patients. Read journals, blogs, and websites. Look things up online and in textbooks. Don't be afraid to say "I don't know". Don't be cocky or a know-it-all. Take classes that you think will help you understand and do your job better. Precept. Teach, both informally and maybe formally. Earn a 4-year degree. In a couple of years, go to work for a ground CCT service and then start this whole process over. Become the type of paramedic that other EMT's and medics love to have as a partner, that docs and nurses and firefighters and cops like to see walk through the door, and that people say about "if my wife or kid ever gets badly hurt, I hope cointosser13 gets the dispatch".....not because you know everything but because you just always do a really_good_job. That should keep you busy for 5-6 years......after you've done all that, start seriously looking into flying. But don't do these things because you think they will help you get into flying, do them so that you can get really good at what you are doing now.

HEMS programs typically look for paramedics with quality experience, who are mature as both an individual and as a clinician, who are easy to get along with, who are confident but not cocky, and who have really good customer service skills and crisis-management skills. They'll figure this out through interviews, scenarios, testing, and talking to people who know you. Some people naturally possess these "soft skills", some don't - but they are critically important - you will NOT get hired by a good program if they don't get the right impression of your personality, no matter how bad*** of a paramedic you are or how many critical care courses you've taken or how much physiology you can rattle off. Reputation is important. Many programs only hire people they know, or at least people that they know have a good reputation in their area.

Don't spend the next few years of your life focusing on becoming a flight paramedic and just checking off the boxes that you think will help you reach that end. Nothing wrong with having a goal and a plan to get there, but enjoy what you are doing now and work hard to be really good at it.
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That answers just about question 1 on my list. Thank you for the info.
 
Srt4ever said:
I currently work for a hospital and level 1 trauma center and my first gig was at another hospital and level 1 trauma center
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By "work for a hospital", do you mean you work on an ALS truck based out of a hospital? Or do you mean you're an ED tech?
 
Srt4ever said:
Working in the ED as a paramedic/trauma medic.
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I'm not a flight medic so I can't speak with certainty, but I don't imagine that experience is what flight companies will be looking for. I'm sure it will be very helpful, but it's a whole different ballgame when you're on your own in the field.
 
Srt4ever said:
Working in the ED as a paramedic/trauma medic.
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While I'm not a medic or associated with HEMS I do know you need pre-hospital experience to work HEMS where I'm at.
 
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Can you do a ride along with a flight crew ? I want to see what my friend saids about maybe becoming air sick ? or they don't do ride alongs since its a cramped environment ?
 
That's going to be system dependent. One of the services down here does ride-alongs, but I don't think the others do.
 
Srt4ever said:
How is it being in a helicopter ?
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Loud. Not to mention it can be very tight on space depending on the type of craft. A Blackhawk may have lots of room but height wise it's not got a lot of room inside.
 
At least here, the flight services want that street experience. It's one of the few reasons they keep paramedics around, they are comfortable with scene calls. They're also cheaper, but can do less than nurses (again that's here, who knows where else). If you can't get the experience where you live now, there are lots of other places to go work as a paramedic...
 
Tigger said:
At least here, the flight services want that street experience. It's one of the few reasons they keep paramedics around, they are comfortable with scene calls. They're also cheaper, but can do less than nurses (again that's here, who knows where else). If you can't get the experience where you live now, there are lots of other places to go work as a paramedic...
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Where is "here" and Im trying for street experience but like mentioned in my first post, its oversaturated down here with fire/medics and the FD runs the 911 calls.
 
Srt4ever said:
Im trying for street experience but like mentioned in my first post, its oversaturated down here with fire/medics and the FD runs the 911 calls.
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Tigger said:
If you can't get the experience where you live now, there are lots of other places to go work as a paramedic...
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Srt4ever said:
Where is "here" and Im trying for street experience but like mentioned in my first post, its oversaturated down here with fire/medics and the FD runs the 911 calls.
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Almost every flight service I have ever looked at requires street time. I've yet to run across one where in hospital experience only will cut it.
 
TransportJockey said:
Almost every flight service I have ever looked at requires street time. I've yet to run across one where in hospital experience only will cut it.
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Likewise, even a local hospital that has an ALS ground transport team that also operates with life, won't let a medic transfer to life flight due to 5,000 hours or something like that
 
Cruise over to www.flightweb.com and search the "getting started" category. Look at previous posts and replies, you will get a lot of the answers you're looking for there. And no ED expierence isn't gonna cut it for HEMS expierence anywhere I am aware of. My programs minimum is 5 years to even be considered competitive and have your resume looked at. Most are 3-5, with the higher tenured people generally getting the interviews. If you can get some ground CCT expierence as well that could give you a leg up in a lot of places that do a high volume of IFT as well as scene flights..... When you to to a point where you're meeting the minimum standards for consideration your resume will likely look like everyone else's so that's why I say CCT expierence, or PEDS expierence for example might give you an edge. Any program worth working for will mandate their new hire candidates to do a fly along to make sure they don't get sick/they will be a good fit. There's a lot of programs that hire for personality and train for skill, regardless of peoples opinion on that. Search around this forum and above listed for more answers before probing for answers general questions. Good luck.
 
What most flight programs are looking for is the "perfect fit" Attitude,someone who is humble and has a good knowledge of the job.Experience at a high volume service isn't really a must.Prior to HEMS I worked at a rural ground service and still work at that service today.Volume doesn't mean you're a good medic,its how you apply yourself. Having your FP-C is an advantage but not required by some,if it's a CAMTS accredited program they will require it but most likely not before you're hired.The FP-C is more like a test of knowledge from books and the real world.I literally studied for it the night before,I had been a flightmedic for about 2 years at the time and didn't find it to be that hard of a test.As far as the getting sick part,if you ride in a medic unit you should have no issues.I can't stress enough about attitude,I have all kinds of certs this that alphabet soup,have been a tactical medical for years and all that other high speed stuff and I am still one of the most humble person you will ever meet.Having all that means absolutely nothing is you have a bad personality.You can't be arrogant in anyway or have a know it all attitude,that is an instant no hire in my book.Just be a stand up guy and be humble. Get the required certs and never give up,I applied 3 times with the program I'm with now and was very good friends with all the flight crew.It not something that is just given to you.Also no matter what know anything will always eventually turn into a job.I knew from the time I was young I wanted to be on a helicopter,but some days it's rough.Good luck to you,I've enjoyed every moment I've sat in that seat and the humbleness it given me.Also look at the Back to basic book for FP-C study prep.
 
Thank you guys for such an insight on the Flight world, I do appreciate it. I have an interview coming with AMR in a local county that supposedly has 911 contract with the county.
 
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