I'm attending the upcoming ECHO conference. I wondered if anyone has attended in the past and could offer advice on the dress code. Their email notes to dress comfortably but not unprofessionally but I can't seem to get a good consensus on what that means. Normal clothes (jeans and shirts without offensive/ vulgar crap) or business casual?

Anyone taken the CFRN recently? What did you use to study and how similar was the practice BCEN exam to the actual exam?

Any HEMs NPs/PAs out there? I’d like to pick y’all’s brain.

Hello, Quick question for you guys. I'm a firefighter and was wondering if a flashlight or laser strobe would be better to "give you my location" at night. I've heard that leds are invisible to you guys, would a handheld halogen flashlight work? Does it need to be really bright or would an average flashlight work? Is there anything that I'm missing or something else you would recommend? Obviously pointing the laser at you is a big no-no, only directly up in the air if that is "legal" or preferred. Thanks for your help!

Edit: just found IR flashlights, would that be in the same boat as lasers being a bad idea?

I know a lot of people have said that FlightBridge and IAMed (now ImpactEMS) both had word-for-word questions as on the exam but does anyone know if the BCEN practice exams have similar, or the same, questions as the actual exam too?

I've been using the practice exams. Didn't have time to finish IAMed so just hoping the BCEN and Pam Bartley's study guide will help me!

Anybody have experience working on flight teams for air methods? Positive, negative, or in between! Would love to hear your experience.

I just took the fpc but also just finished my RN. I plan to take the CFRN soon. I am just wondering how similar the tests are and how much extra studying the CFRN requires.

Studying for 2 months pretty heavily was all it took for me! I used the IA Med prep course, which was pretty comprehensive, as well as the pocket prep FP-C question bank. The IA med course had a practice exam as a diagnostic but I took it later in studying to get some practice questions in. The course overall was pretty well done, a majority of the lectures were easy to comprehend and quite helpful. The guy who does the cardiology was not the best so I supplemented this stuff with some FOAM Frat videos and podcasts. Otherwise the pocket prep was my greatest resource. There’s 1000 questions, mostly with info from the ASTNA textbook. The questions were super comprehensive for what would be on the exam and you could go over them as many times as desired for the $16/month subscription cost. Totally worth it. The IBSC practice exam was a waste of money. It was $90 I think, only 50 questions, and you don’t get to review it and see what you missed.

Overall, the breakdown of content provided by IBSC is your best friend. The questions are mostly scenario based and they don’t try to trick you. I have not taken the CCP but to me the exam was quite fair. I felt VERY stressed going into it and came out pretty confident. Best of luck friends and fly safe!

For those studying for the FP-C, I just paid the $95 for the IBSC practice exam and do not think it’s worth your money. For $95 you get a 50 question practice test that you can only take once. At the end of the test you do get a list of the topics covered in each question, so you get 50 educational points basically. But for $95 to me this wasn’t worth it. Pocketprep has a $15/month premium subscription where you can take as many “practice tests” that you want with their 900 question bank. Far cheaper and better explanations in my opinion! Granted I haven’t taken/passed the test yet so there’s that, but it seemed wasteful to me.

Anyone used one in a bird? I think they have some noise canceling abilities but I’m skeptical of whether it could counter the noise on a helicopter.

For all you hot weather providers , what are you wearing for undershirts under your flight suits? Anyone have a good natural fiber moisture wicking lightweight clothes company they really stand by?

Hey all!

A few months ago I posted here to ask for some info on more helicopters in different countries (HEMS and police).

I’ve just added the UK for people interested :)

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/lifeliner/id1497325355?l=en

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.lifeliner&hl=en&gl=NL

I’m the maker of a Dutch app called Lifeliner (see https://Lifeliner.app). It tracks the Dutch HEMS (and police) helicopters.

For a new version I’m looking at expanding into (at least) Belgium, Germany, the UK and the US.

Anyone here who can help me with finding some resources on all the heli’s active in these countries?

Thanks :)

A Lifenet helicopter based out of Maryland crashed this afternoon in Drexel Hill, a densely populated suburban area of Philadelphia. They were transporting a patient to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Incredibly, all four souls managed to self extricate and have non life threatening injuries.

Very little additional information is available at this time. It is unlikely that weather was a factor. Weather at PHL, which is very close to the crash site, was reporting temp -3C, dew point - 19C, visibility 10+ miles, scattered clouds at 25k ft, wind 320deg 11kt. Based on the photos it looks like the aircraft was a EC135 operated by Air Methods Corp.

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/helicopter-crashes-in-drexel-hill-delaware-county/3103951/

Is anyone aware of a flight program that uses EM docs as part of their crew?

We flew into an airport in central California that houses a local HEMS company. While we were waiting for gound transport we got talking with the local crew. They mentioned they have been out of service 5/7 days due to staffing. They said many of their nurses left their flight jobs to take travel/crisis assignments. Has anyone else had issues like this?

Trying to get some information together on medic pay per $/hr and location. We have had numerous medics leave our service over pay recently. We are a full time rotor service in Missouri that does scene flight/IFT. I hold my FPC and currently make $18.05/hr during a 24hr shift. That is including $1.75/hr bonus for hazard/fpc incentive.

Hello all, new to the subreddit. I'm a flight medic in the Greater Philadelphia area. I'm moving to Washington State and I'm hoping to continue my career out there. I haven't had much luck finding job opportunities online. It looks like Life Flight and Airlift Northwest are pretty much the only options. I have reached out to both and had no reply so far. I am a dual citizen, so BC is also potentially an option for me.

I'm currently just looking for information, trying to get a feel for what the industry is like out there. Does anyone work in the Pacific Northwest or have any contacts out there? Any information is appreciated, thank you.

Also posting in r/ems

Hi everyone, I am trying to get buy in from my organization for an exercise and wellness program. I am receiving significant pushback. A bit of background on my service, we are a hospital based HEMS service with quite a few bases at airports, freestanding sites, and hospitals. The pushback is coming from several directions: executive leadership within our organization is opposed out of operational concerns, hospital leadership is concerned with the liability of having crew members exercising while on shift. Here are some of the arguments that they have given

Operational:

Current uniform policy is that we are to be in flight suits and boots at all times during our (24 hour) shifts. No one wants to exercise in a onesie, and it would be incredibly problematic to go for a run in a flight suit and show up in an ICU smelling like a gym

There is concern that having crew members exercising would impact response times

Liability:

Exercise equipment is apparently more dangerous than any other thing that will ever be encountered in the HEMS industry

So here is what I am hoping to find here: do you guys have any form of exercise program within your organization; and if so, how does that look?

We're organising a webinar about the benefits GNSS can bring to HEMS operations on Wednesday, 18 November, 14:00 CET

Feel free to join: https://www.gsa.europa.eu/newsroom/news/online-workshop-egnos-approaches-robust-helicopter-emergency-services