Is the grass greener?

[Hobit]

For those HEMS folks out there....

I am currrently at a regional as an FO and wondering if the HEMS career is better and more rewarding personally. I flew RW and left the GOM because I felt safety was systemically poor there with no wx reporting off shore as just one of the issues. I am not afraid of wx, I just need to know what I am getting into (or need to stay away from)- I never had that after feet wet or staying offshore for a few days. It was extremely difficult to build a weather picture. If you're going to an off field patient pick up, can you build an accurate picture of the environment? ie -wx from surrounding airports etc, lay out of PZ area and road structure with google maps etc? I know each job/career has its own unique problems. I'm just looking to see if I am mischaracterizing HEMS in my ignorance.

I also miss the job satisfaction I got when flying in the Army and I am now convinced that Helicopters are more fun than RJ's after doing both.

As a HEMS pilot have you found you still realize satisfaction from helping out after a few years?

Thanx

 

[WMUSIGPI]

As a furloughed regional pilot and current (fixed wing) air ambulance pilot, unless you really don't like the airline life at all, stay put. Being on call all the time with very short notice response is no way to live as a career. And the pay isn't likely to be any better than where you are at now.

 

[CaravanMan]

I, too, fly fixed-wing EMS. Like WMUSIGPI said, the on call life can be rough, but dang if I'm not enjoying this job and QOL. I know every job is different, but I'm lovin' mine. It's never been a burden for me, except for those really bad wx days when the RW can't fly and I end up being gone all night. That can get old, heh. But, I'm spending more time with my wife and baby boy than I ever could have dreamed if I were still with freight. Having a pager on your hip does get old at times, but I don't fly every day, which means I'm doing whatever I want to do..., but I have to be w/in 20 mins of the base.

As to your concern... Our RW guys make every effort to get to the patient. I know that if weather is ever questionable that they'll turn it down. There have been several flights where it's clear on both ends, but in the middle of the leg there was concern about low clouds/fog, and they've canceled and the FW gets sent. I'd much rather have to take a flight in the King Air than to have the RW crew try to make it and get into trouble. Our RW guys really seem to enjoy their job. They work a 7 on, 7 off schedule, but remain at the base for their 12 hrs.

 

[Photoflight]

I just started and was flying freight and it looks alright. 12 on 6 off is our schedule, with 12 hours spent at base housing during our shift. Pay is ok for now. Not something I want to do forever but I'll log some King Air time for a year or so and then move on.

I'm flying fixed wing though.

 

[FlyingSkip]

Love it! RW, I commute 9 hrs to work and it's worth every second---both for the job and to keep living where I on my off time! Dude---it's all what you make it, and I NEVER wanted to fly 121 but I've done freight, charter, etc----and this beats them all hands down. You feel even SLIGHTLY less than comfortable---you don't go. There's always a ground ambulance, and they don't question you. Good feeling, good equipment and good job---f*** the RJs, anybody can do fixed wing, only the chosen few can hover! And the pay is better---and you feel better after one patient than 500 bit**ing pax.

Former Marine---other 3 guys at my base all former Army. We all love it.

 

[Doozer]

HEMS is my first full-time flying job outside of the military. I’ve been at it for about 3 ½ years now. I still find it psychologically rewarding, and I don’t foresee that changing.

Other than my own freelance instructing at the local grass strip, I’ve never had a fixed-wing flying job so I don’t really know; however, my gut feeling is that HEMS is more rewarding than being at a regional (probably even a major) carrier. I haven’t heard anyone speak fondly about either the working conditions or the pay at the regionals. All of the major carrier pilots I know don’t really enjoy flying anymore; however, the pay and the days off that go with that territory keep it palatable.

When I left active duty in 1992, noone was hiring helicopter pilots, so I went to work in the business world. In 2003, I was laid off and unable to find another job in the field I had been working, so I initiated my backup plan and dusted off my helicopter pilot resume. Within 3 weeks I was back to work – albeit at about half of what I pulled down as an I.T. consultant. Still, I’m having the time of my life. The only other job I’ve ever liked as much was flight instructing in the Navy Training Command.

I now fly a pretty simple machine (B206L) at a VFR-only service. Last year, I turned down an offer to fly a SPIFR twin for a local hospital-based program because it just didn’t seem reasonable to me to fly a more sophisticated aircraft in more challenging conditions for less pay than I was receiving to operate VFR-only.

My base is just under an hour’s drive from home, so I sleep in my own bed every night (or every day during my night hitches). My normal schedule is 7-on/7-off, rotating between day and night hitches, so I usually know what I’m doing for several months out.

If something unexpected occurs, the other pilots I work with are about as flexible as Gumby and we modify the schedule among ourselves so our paychecks remain relatively constant from pay period to pay period. There is also overtime to be had at other bases – but that’s strictly voluntary.

For me the job satisfaction comes in three parts. In descending order of importance, those parts are the people I work with, the type of flying I do, and the good feeling I get from helping others.

The major part of my job satisfaction comes from the chemistry of our people. The personnel at my base get along like family; they’re just plain fun to work with and be around. All four of our pilots are former Naval Aviators: 2 Navy, 1 Coast Guard & me (USMC). I will admit, though, neither that pilot mixture nor the chemistry among our people is the norm.

The type of flying I do is the next most satisfying part of the job. About 80 – 85 percent of my current calls are scene flights; the rest are hospital to hospital transfers. At every other base I’ve worked, that ratio has been reversed. With such a huge percentage of scene flights there is a lot of variety. We’re frequently landing in unfamiliar and unprepared areas -- someone’s backyard on one flight, a schoolyard on the next, a Wal Mart parking lot on the next … and for some reason (childish perhaps) landing on the interstate literally makes my day.

Helping others definitely makes me feel good, but the other two factors are way more important to me. Furthermore, the medic and the nurse are really the only people actually helping others; I’m just driving – and I’ve got absolutely no problem with that. I tell people that the only thing I’m capable of doing for the patient is killing him faster, and I joke with the medical crew that they remain alive by default.

After doing the HEMS thing for 3 1/2 years, I really can’t imagine liking a job where I droned from airport to airport on a daily basis. I’m sure I could adapt, but the enjoyment would be sorely lacking, and I’d probably try to reenter the business world. As before, I’d fill the flying void by instructing out at the grass strip in my time off.