AAMS recently hosted an air medical safety summit – September 5 & 6 – at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC, that brought together a group of industry stakeholders selected to represent the air medical industry across varying business models, professional designations and aircraft manufacturers. Over the course of the event, participants took part in a variety of fully engaged discussions on a multitude of safety issues that affect air medical transport.

While a full analysis of the meeting has not yet been completed, a consensus by the participants was evident in the following summit takeaways:

Tools to Enhance Professionalism
AAMS will work to develop standardized methods to appropriately and fully train each employee, regardless of the role in the organization, to perform at the optimum level of professionalism. Critical to the success of this initiative is enhanced cross-training between aviation, medical, administrative, and management so that each group has a better understanding of the roles, responsibilities, and general procedures and terminology of the others.  Included in this initiative is the accountability to a Just Culture of Safety at all levels of an organization.

Data Collection
Current methods used to measure industry successes through data collection and human factor analysis have room for improvement. The air medical industry will invest in and implement targeted and specific data collection to paint an accurate picture of the industry, and learn from what the data shows from both the positive and negative standpoint.

Coordinated Communications
Effective communications between the industry, the FAA, and the equipment manufacturers, including the OEM’s, is vital to implement and apply new safety and medical technologies. Enhancing communications can provide the highest level of efficiency to better serve the patient, while simultaneously promoting cost-effectiveness from equipment coming off the line to utilization by crew members in the field.

Technology
There is growing interest to embrace new safety technologies, such as Flight Data Monitoring and Autopilot, as tools to mitigate risk for crew members and patients served. While it takes time to fully implement such technologies, the industry will partner with the FAA in order to streamline the inspection and certification process.

Low-Altitude Infrastructure
The industry will continue working with the FAA and Congress to build and maintain a safety-minded infrastructure in the low altitude airspace, particularly with regard to weather reporting improvements, and expanding the number of approved weather sources. Rapidly changing weather conditions are a perpetual safety risk for both helicopter and fixed-wing transport. While the aviation weather reporting system works well for high-altitude flight, it does not adequately reflect the rapidly changing conditions at the lower altitudes.

Participants brought the event to a close with a fresh perspective on industry-wide safety programs and challenges, and a consensus toward measurable goals that improve the overall safety of the air medical community. AAMS members should expect a more detailed analysis of the preliminary areas of focus shortly. AAMS thanks all our participants, and we look forward to working together on effective outcomes.