What Exactly is a Flight Paramedic?

Flight paramedics are people who work in the field of aero-medics. They are employed by air ambulance services and are responsible for moving sick or injured people to various medical facilities for treatment.  Helicopters and fixed-wing airplanes are the most common vehicles used. Helicopters are mostly used for urgent emergency situations, while planes are used to move patients who are more stable to medical facilities that may be a far distance away. Along with flight nurses, flight paramedics deliver medical care during the patient's flight and help with loading and unloading the patient from the aircraft.

Flight paramedics learn how to use many different kinds of medical devices. These devices may include heart monitors, defibrillators, IV pumps, ventilators and much more. These paramedics are also taught how to safely and quickly transport patients of various sizes and ages who are suffering from a multitude of critical medical conditions, such as stroke, heart attack or brain trauma. Flight paramedics are clearly an essential part of an emergency medical care team.

 

How Does Someone Become a Flight Paramedic?

Before they can become flight paramedics, a paramedic usually has to work for at least five years as a regular paramedic on the ground. There are various training programs and college certificates and degrees available for people looking to become certified paramedics. Once you have finished your training and are certified, you'll need to work as a ground paramedic with a local fire department, hospital or ambulance service to earn the required experience. Paramedics with the required five years of experience are able to undergo more training that will allow them to work as flight paramedics. Employers such as hospitals and air ambulance services usually only hire the best and most highly trained flight paramedics.

 

What Flight Paramedics Do While On-Board

Many flight paramedics are employed by hospitals. Their job is to serve in urgent emergency situations in which a severely injured or sick patient needs to quickly be transported by air to another medical facility for immediate treatment that the current facility is not able to provide. There may also be situations where transporting a severely injured patient via ambulance is not suitable and air transport is required. The main goal of the flight paramedic is to make sure the patient remains stable during the flight and arrives at the destination safely and on-time. Because of this, flight paramedics need to have exceptional emergency skills. They usually work along with a team of flight nurses during the flight.