Air Methods, the nation’s leading air medical service provider, announced today that its innovative and comprehensive education program, Ascend, is now available for pre-hospital, emergency, and critical care clinicians, giving urban and rural facilities equal access to the highest level of critical care training.

The Ascend in-person and online education programs provide access to world-class educators, state-of-the-art tools, and cutting-edge technologies to help pre-hospital and critical care clinicians advance their knowledge and skills, enabling them to operate at the top of their licensure and fulfill continuing education requirements. Education programs include both advanced mannequin-based simulation and virtual reality training through SimX, which recently ranked Air Methods as one of its top 5 SimX users, paving the way in healthcare education through technology.

“Healthcare organizations, especially those serving rural populations, face unprecedented challenges from staffing shortages, scarce hospital resources, and the need to equip clinicians with the clinical autonomy required to maintain and improve emergent patient outcomes,” said JaeLynn Williams, CEO, Air Methods. “Ascend helps alleviate clinician burnout and improve retention, while reducing the organization’s onboarding and training costs, by providing high advanced quality education that is accessible, innovative and reliable.”

As a national air medical services team that saves over 100,000 lives per year, Air Methods has been accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Its flight and critical care education offerings prioritize the significance of the Golden Hour — the critical time where the actions clinicians take have the most potential to save a life. By offering both in-person and online programs, Air Methods addresses a critical need for advanced training that is reliable and efficient, ensures high-quality patient care, and increases retention of qualified clinicians.

“Air Methods believes in delivering high-quality education that not only transforms the learning experience but also addresses the ‘whole-clinician,’ said Dr. Stephanie Queen, SVP of Clinical Services at Air Methods. “We strive to help clinicians develop and nurture the skills they need for autonomy, self-direction and full participation in bedside decision-making, because they aren’t just saving lives, they are navigating the future of ambulatory medicine. It’s so much more than a career – it’s a calling.”

Ascend In-Person Training Programs
The Ascend in-person programs include Flight Line Readiness, Critical Care Readiness, and additional specialty training programs for critical care pre-hospital and emergency clinicians. The 3- or 4-day in-
person classes are built upon evidence-based practices and backed by the industry-leading emergency air medical organization. All programs are taught by Air Methods’ staff of experienced critical care and flight clinicians using the latest tools and technologies, including proctored cadaver labs, state-of-the-art simulation labs, interactive mannequins, and virtual reality tools. Access to the Air Methods Ascend in-depth programs relieves hospitals of the need to build and finance training programs on their own.

Ascend Online Review Courses
The Ascend online review courses have been developed and tested by tenured critical care clinicians and offer interactive learning and recertification programs for all emergency clinicians, including flight and critical care medics, nurses, and prehospital and in-hospital EMTs. The courses feature cinematic content and gamified activities to suit a variety of learning styles. The evidence-based curriculum includes involvement and direction by over 100 physicians from a wide range of specialties and meets certification requirements for Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN), Commission on Accreditation for Pre-Hospital Continuing Education (CAPCE) and International Board of Specialty Certifications (IBSC).