Blogs, Blogging, and Aeromedical Transport over at Medic Trommashere’s place got me to thinking and reminded me of a recent conversation.

Like many people in EMS we were discussing the high risk world of Medevac helicopters. Flying is the most dangerous job in EMS, and right now is one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States. If the Bureau of Labor were to break medical helicopters out from the rest of EMS, it is likely that the death rate would surpass that of Commercial Fishing or Commercial Logging. I’ve posted about it, as has Rogue Medic and several other EMS type bloggers.

During our discussion about helicopter EMS, one of my friends mentioned that city dwell ing tourists are constantly angered when someone becomes sick or injured and there isn’t an immediate EMS response. When EMS does respond, the response times are very long by urban standards and the hospitals are much less capable than what city dwellers have come to expect.  Of the EMS help that does come is BLS or maybe even first responder. No paramedics are available much of the time.

Like many things, living in rural areas is a trade off. You get less crowded living, with less crime, no sirens sounding all night, and usually better scenery. The trade off is that you are further from medical care and what you do get is often not state of the art.

All of which people should consider when they think about vacationing or moving to rural areas. Don’t expect that if you get sick or hurt, a helicopter is going to come flying in to your rescue no matter what the weather is.

If you or a family member have medical conditions that might require complex treatments and state of the art facilities, you need to think long and hard before you move or even vacation in an area where response times may be longer than 30 minutes and transport times by ground can be measured in hours. Helicopters are not always available and it’s likely that the rules of when they can fly are going to become more restrictive. The HEMS industry has to start thinking more about safety and less about profit or “the mission”.

I think we’re going to see fewer helicopters in EMS in the future, not more.