Air Medical Physician Association Research Articles

Hospital in the air: Royal Flying Doctor Service retrievals and challenges before, during and after, Australia's COVID‐19 lockdown in 2020

Hospital in the air: Royal Flying Doctor Service retrievals and challenges before, during and after, Australia's <scp>COVID</scp>‐19 lockdown in 2020

Code of Ethics for EMS Physician Medical Directors

Jointly submitted and approved by the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO), the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP), and the Air Medical Physician Association (AMPA).EM...

Air Medical Physician Association Position Statement on COVID-19

AMPA is attentive to the concerns of its membership in addressing the challenges associated with the transport of patients with suspected or confirmed infection with SARS-CoV-2. Recommendations regarding the personal protective equipment required to care for these patients remain fluid, and AMPA recommends that its members remain familiar with the recommendations of the World Health Organization as well as those of their local, regional, and national health protection authorities.

Medical Protocols

Several years ago, the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) Board of Directors established a medical protocol committee composed of the physicians on the board representing the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Association of Critical Care Transport, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Air Medical Physician Association, and the National Association of EMS Physicians to review select medical protocols (clinical guidelines) submitted by medical transport systems applying for accreditation. Over the past 20 years, the board of directors has reviewed about 4,000 applications for accreditation that includes a review of the medical protocols. The board's intent with every review is to help programs improve the quality of patient care and safety of their service. The medical protocol committee was formed because during these reviews there were weaknesses identified regarding medical protocols; there were no protocols for certain patient diagnoses that would be transported based on the program's scope of care, and some protocols were not congruent with current medical practice. The committee recognizes physician preferences but provides feedback specific to the protocols reviewed that may indicate deviation from current generally accepted clinical practice and evidence-based medicine (when available). See the study by Evans et al 1 Evans IV Phillips GS Alpern ER et al. Association between the New York sepsis care mandate and in-hospital mortality for pediatric sepsis. JAMA. 2018; 320: 358-367 Crossref PubMed Scopus (77) Google Scholar for pediatric sepsis. 1 Evans IV Phillips GS Alpern ER et al. Association between the New York sepsis care mandate and in-hospital mortality for pediatric sepsis. JAMA. 2018; 320: 358-367 Crossref PubMed Scopus (77) Google Scholar Eileen Frazer, RN, CMTE, is the CAMTS executive director. She can be reached at [email protected] and (864) 287-4177.

Responsible “Helicopter Shopping” Through Selective Resource Management

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.

27th Critical Care Transport Medicine Conference

You won't want to miss the 2019 Critical Care Transport Medicine Conference (CCTMC) April 15-17 at the Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town in Albuquerque, New Mexico. CCTMC is presented by the Air & Surface Transport Nurses Association (ASTNA), the Air Medical Physician Association (AMPA), and the International Association of Flight and Critical Care Paramedics (IAFCCP).

22nd Critical Care Transport Medicine Conference

We're going back to Austin, live music capital of the world®! You won't want to miss the 2014 Critical Care Transport Medicine Conference (CCTMC) March 31 through April 2 at the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol. CCTMC is presented by the Air & Surface Transport Nurses Association (ASTNA), the Air Medical Physician Association (AMPA), and the International Association of Flight and Critical Care Paramedics (IAFCCP).

2013 Air Medical Transport Conference

248 It’s that time of year again! The 2013 Air Medical Transport Conference (AMTC) is headed to Virginia Beach, Virginia, from Monday, October 21, to Wednesday, October 23. As AMTC attendees have come to expect, the 2013 event is jam-packed with innovative and informative education sessions, as well as access to the most advanced products and services available to emergency medical transport providers on the tradeshow floor! AMTC hosts more than 2500 attendees from all over the world for this superb annual gathering of the minds. The conference is specifically designed to educate, inform, cultivate friendships, and supply the latest information on the newest techniques and innovative approaches to emergency medical transport from the experts in your field. Education topics will cover a variety of disciplines, including core clinical, specialty clinical, management, patient safety, aviation safety, research, communications, and global perspectives. In addition to education sessions, the AMTC tradeshow features over 140 companies displaying products and services directly applicable to air and critical care ground medicine. If you are interested in the air or ground medical transport field, you need to head for the Beach! The conference is organized by the Association of Air Medical Services with cooperation from the Air & Surface Transport Nurses Association, the Air Medical Physician Association, the International Association of Flight and Critical Care Paramedics, the National Association of Air Medical Communication Specialists, and the National EMS Pilots Association. Most events will be held at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. The AMTC hotels are right on the water and in close proximity to a variety of dining and shopping options, as well as top-notch entertainment. Finish up each busy day by wiggling your toes in the sand or dipping your feet into the ocean waves. For full details on the conference and regular updates, visit www.aams.org, click on Education and Meetings, and then select AMTC 2013. We’ll see you at the Beach!

Appropriate and Safe Utilization of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services: A Joint Position Statement with Resource Document

This position statement with accompanying resource document is the result of a collaborative effort of a writing group comprised of members of the Air Medical Physician Association (AMPA), the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP), and the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM). This document has been jointly approved by the boards of all four organizations.Patients benefit from the appropriate utilization of helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS). EMS and regional health care systems must have and follow guidelines for HEMS utilization to facilitate proper patient selection and ensure clinical benefit. Clinical benefit can be provided byMeaningfully shortening the time to delivery of definitive care to patients with time-sensitive medical conditionsProviding necessary specialized medical expertise or equipment to patients before and/or during transportProviding transport to patients inaccessible by other means of transportThe decision to use HEMS is a medical decision, separate from the aviation determination whether a transport can be completed safely.Physicians with specialized training and experience in EMS and air medical transport must be integral to HEMS utilization decisions, including guideline development and quality improvement activities.Safety management systems must be developed, adopted, and adhered to by air medical operators when making decisions to accept and continue every HEMS transport.HEMS must be fully integrated within the local, regional, and state emergency health care systems.HEMS programs cannot operate independently of the surrounding health care environment.The EMS and health care systems must be involved in the determination of the number of HEMS assets necessary to provide appropriate coverage for their region. Excessive resources may lead to competitive practices that can affect utilization and negatively impact safety. Inadequate resources will delay receipt of definitive care.National guidelines for appropriate utilization of HEMS must be developed. These guidelines should be national in scope yet allow local, regional, and state implementation.A National HEMS Agenda for the Future should be developed to address HEMS utilization and availability and to identify and support a research strategy for ongoing, evidence-based refinement of utilization guidelines. Key words: appropriateness; helicopter; HEMS; safety; utilization

21st Critical Care Transport Medicine Conference: We're Going to Austin-Live Music Capital of the World!

You won't want to miss the 2013 Critical Care Transport Medicine Conference (CCTMC) April 8th to the 11th at the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol. CCTMC is presented by the Air & Surface Transport Nurses Association (ASTNA), the Air Medical Physician Association (AMPA), and the International Association of Flight and Critical Care Paramedics (IAFCCP).

Air Ambulance Medical Transport Advertising and Marketing

The National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP), the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the Air Medical Physician Association (AMPA), the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS), and the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO) believe that patient care and outcomes are optimized by using air medical transport services that are licensed air ambulance providers with robust physician medical director oversight and ongoing quality assessment and review. Only air ambulance medical transport services with these credentials should advertise/market themselves as air ambulance services.

2010 Critical Care Transport Medicine Conference Abstracts

The following abstracts are from the poster presentations made at the 2010 Critical Care Transport Medicine Conference held April 12-14, 2010, at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. The Scientific Forum is sponsored by the Air Medical Physician Association, Air and Surface Transport Nurses Association, and International Association of Flight Paramedics; the first place winner received an Outstanding Research Award from Golden Hour Data Systems, Inc. For more information, contact Pat Petersen at ppeter1111@aol.com.

18th Critical Care Transport Medicine Conference April 12-14, 2010

Suffering from an acute case of the winter blahs? Leave the snowbanks behind and head south to beautiful San Antonio for a shot of sunshine and fun! The Critical Care Transport Medicine Conference (CCTMC) offers a clinically driven educational opportunity second to none. Join us April 12-14, 2010, at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel, one block from the world-famous River Walk. CCTMC is presented by the Air & Surface Transport Nurses Association (ASTNA), the Air Medical Physician Association (AMPA), and the International Association of Flight Paramedics (IAFP).

Quantifying the Value of AMPA Membership Services

Introduction The purpose of this study was to quantify the value of current and future Air Medical Physician Association (AMPA) membership services. Methods Three-hundred-ninety-eight AMPA members were contacted by e-mail to participate in ranking AMPA membership services by a perceived numeric value (10 = highest to 1 = lowest), using a web-based survey. Results One-hundred-eighteen AMPA members completed the survey. The percentage of respondents having attended the conference and their AMPA-related Conference ranked-value scores were as follows: Air Medical Transport Conference (AMTC), 43%, 9.6 ± 1.9; AirMed International Conference, 9%, 7.8 ± 4.2; AMTC Pre-conference, 65%, 7.6 ± 2.5; Critical Care Transport Medicine Conference (CCTMC), 47%, 6.6 ± 2.6; CCTMC Pre-conference, 37%, 6.6 ± 2.6; the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) Mid-Year Conference, 6%, 6.4 ± 4.9; and General Membership meeting, 63%, 5.6 ± 2.4. Current AMPA Benefit/Service ranked-value scores were as follows: textbook, 8.4 ± 1.8; voice for physicians, 8.0 ± 2.3; position papers, 7.9 ± 1.8; Air Medical Journal subscription, 7.8 ± 2.1; networking with others, 7.7 ± 2.4; newsletter, 7.3 ± 1.9; means to enhance professional credibility, 7.1 ± 2.5; web site, 7.0 ± 2.1; voice on Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS), 7.0 ± 2.7; continuing medical education (CME) credits, 6.6 ± 3.0; conference discounts, 6.4 ± 2.9; and curriculum vitae builder, 4.9 ± 2.9. Future AMPA Benefits/Services ranked-value scores were as follows: evidence-based guidelines, 8.6 ± 1.7; transport database, 7.7 ± 2.1; malpractice repository, 7.6 ± 2.2; DVD lectures, 7.4 ± 2.0; medical director certification, 7.2 ± 2.9; lobbying, 7.1 ± 2.4; photo library, 6.4 ± 2.3; salary and benefits surveys, 6.4 ± 2.6; speaker's bureau, 6.2 ± 2.4; and consulting service list, 6.2 ± 2.4. Conclusion This AMPA survey was useful in prioritizing membership services.

AMTC 2004 Cincinnati

AMTC 2004 Cincinnati

M EDICAL D IRECTION AND M EDICAL C ONTROL OF A IR M EDICAL S ERVICES Position statement of the Air Medical Physician Association

M EDICAL D IRECTION AND M EDICAL C ONTROL OF A IR M EDICAL S ERVICES Position statement of the Air Medical Physician Association

M EDICAL C ONDITION L IST AND A PPROPRIATE U SE OF A IR M EDICAL T RANSPORT Position statement of the Air Medical Physician Association

M EDICAL C ONDITION L IST AND A PPROPRIATE U SE OF A IR M EDICAL T RANSPORT Position statement of the Air Medical Physician Association

Recommendations for Uniform Reporting of Data following Major Trauma — The Utstein Style: An Initiative

The document is published in collaboration with the following organisations: the European Society of Emergency Medicine (Leuven); the European Resuscitation Council (Antwerpen); the Air Medical Physician Association (Salt Lake City, US); the German Interdisciplinary Association of Critical Care Medicine; and the German Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care. The document is to be published jointly in the following journals: 1) Trauma Care (ITACCS); 2) Resuscitation; 3) Prehospital and Disaster Medicine; 4) European Journal of Emergency Medicine; 5) Trauma and Emergency Medicine Journal (SA); 6) Emergency Medicine(Norway); 7) JEUR; and 8) Notfall und Rettungsmedizin (Germany).

Use of restraints in air medical transport: A survey

Although the practice of restraining combative patients is commonplace, restraint has been neither uniform nor scrutinized in the air medical transport environment. The objective of this study was to identify and characterize the use of physical and chemical restraining methods in air medical and critical care transport settings. A retrospective study was performed through faxed questionnaires to 92 medical directors who were members of the Air Medical Physician Association (AMPA). Neither program size nor program type correlated with the use of a particular restraint method. Cloth, including gauze, was the most common physical restraint (73%); both benzodiazepines and paralytics were the most common chemical restraints (53%). Injury to crew members was not widespread. This study of air transport services reported a lower incidence of injury to personnel (17%) than is reported in studies from emergency departments (EDs) (60%). This study also indicated that air transport services possess protocols governing actions toward violent patients (65%) more often than has been reported in studies on EDs (50%). Protocols varied in nature and extent. Consensus protocols should be established and implemented with the aid of detailed data acquisition to standardize personnel education in managing violent patients.