Responsible “Helicopter Shopping” Through Selective Resource Management

Abstract

When hospitals have a patient in urgent need of transport to a higher level of care, and in situations in which a patient's life depends on rapid transport over long distances, helicopter air ambulance (HAA) services often are the best option. An HAA response, however, can be limited by weather conditions, equipment maintenance issues, landing zone availability, distance, flight team limitations, and/or other safety factors. With the growth of the air medical industry and the availability of multiple HAA providers, a practice known as “helicopter shopping,” can occur in situations when safe transport may be limited by the above-mentioned factors. Helicopter shopping is defined as a process of making sequential requests to multiple HAA providers in an effort to secure air medical resources for a call response that some agencies turn down due to the factors described above. 1 International Association of Flight Paramedics. Position Paper on Helicopter Shopping. http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.iafccp.org/resource/resmgr/docs/helicoptershopping.pdf. Published September 2006. Accessed October 2017. Google Scholar This material may not be modified without the expressed permission of the Air & Surface Transport Nurses Association. This joint statement also has been endorsed by the Air Medical Physician Association (AMPA) and the Association of Critical Care Transport (ACCT). The Air & Surface Transport Nurses Association (ASTNA) is a nonprofit membership organization for the advancement of transport nursing and quality patient care. In furtherance of this mission, ASTNA may develop and publish position statements, best practices, educational materials, research results and other materials (ASTNA statements), which contain opinions, recommendations and information. ASTNA statements should not be taken as applying to any particular situation or constituting advice, and may be used only as general educational references. Decisions in the field of transport nursing and patient care require independent judgement, fact-specific knowledge and the application of experience by those making decisions. ASTNA statements are not an endorsement of any course of action and the opinions, recommendations and information in ASTNA statements may change at any time. ASTNA has no obligation to update, correct, or clarify any ASTNA statements. ASTNA assumes no liability to individuals or property arising out of or relating to ASTNA positions.