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Thanks
for the affirmation!
But I
also wanted to comment on what a blessing it is to work with an employer
who is committed to "doing the right thing" and has the freedom to do so.
The crucial period in any crisis is those first few hours, days and weeks
when so little can be determined with certainty and when big decisions should
really not be made by the dependents and survivors. During that
time, having a beneficient and protective employer can make a tremendous
amount of difference in the grief and healing process.
We
should all be so fortunate!
regards!
paul
Paul
M. Wright, Jr.
Mesa,
AZ
I
absolutely agree with Paul. The time to investigate what coverage is available
to you is now, not later. One of the most agonizing experiences that families
of crash victims tend to go through is trying to figure out how they're going
to get by without the income that their loved one generated. In the case of
our crash, one of our families included a nonworking mom and four young
children. Fortunately, the insurance questions were handled fairly quickly,
and our hospital did "the right thing" and just made sure that they had what
they needed in the short term until we had the answers. Our hospital also
bought a supplemental policy several years ago to cover crewmembers, again,
because it was the right thing to do. Our vendor carries the main liability
coverage.
We now make
information about insurance coverage available at the time of hiring, making
sure that copies of the policy are given to the families before anything
happens. We also encourage our staff to talk realistically with their families
about their job, bring them out to the bases to really see what it's all
about, and to include family members in our private "Bayflite Family Landing
Zone" website and other program activities. These are lessons learned the hard
way.
Laurie
Romig
Bayflite,
St. Pete, Florida
-----Original
Message-----
From: flightmed-admin@flightweb.com
[mailto:flightmed-admin@flightweb.com]On Behalf Of Paul M. Wright,
Jr.
Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2001 11:57 AM
To:
flightmed@flightweb.com
Subject: RE: Information on rotor wing
flight paramedic compensation
I
can't speak to a specific hospital-based situation or compensation issues,
but the insurance piece depends somewhat on the actual structure of the
program.
In
a traditional hospital-based program using a contracted vendor for flight
operations, financial protection for the families of the flight crews
is provided by contractually requiring a certain minimum amount of
liability coverage be carried by the vendor. Typical amounts might
start from $5 million and go upwards from there (requirements in the $50-100
million range are not unheard of). In the event of a fatal accident,
the survivors will file a claim against the vendor. In this scenario,
it usually doesn't make sense for the hospital to provide it's own
accidental death policy unless it's part of a general corporate travel
insurance program and even then, most such policies exclude deaths that
occur aboard aircraft other than scheduled commercial flights so you're
still back to the vendor's liability coverage as the primary source of
recovery.
Malpractice liability insurance is, however,
generally carried by the hospital for its employees.
However, one situation in which employees need
to be very cautious is when the program is structured in a manner such that
they become employees of the aviation vendor. In that case, if a fatal
accident occurs, there is generally an extremely limited ability to provide
financial relief to family or dependents because it is then a Worker's
Compensation case rather than third-party liability. What most people
don't realize is that you generally have an option to decline Worker's
Compensation coverage, but if you do not, you have waived the right to sue
your employer for wrongful death or disabling injury, even if there was
criminal misconduct on their part. Your sole hope for financial
recovery is to establish third-party liability on the part of some entity
other than your employer (typically the list of potential TPL candidates
will include the aircraft manufacturer, any third-party maintenance
providers, perhaps the fuel vendor, etc.).
If
you have any doubts about your financial standing in the event of a death or
disabling injury, the time to be asking the questions is now. If
you're told that Worker's Compensation will take care of you, take the next
step and find out what that really means. Here in Arizona, my family's
income would fall below the Federal poverty level based on the Worker's
Compensation cap on compensation if I were disabled or killed in the line of
duty. Particularly for those with dependents, you need to get all
the information you can on what your employer provides and then meet with an
insurance expert to consider ways of closing the gap between what will be
provided and what is needed. That part is your responsibility, not
your employers. Their only duty to you is to honestly and completely
disclose what they do, and do not, provide. Sadly, it is within my
experience to have a flight program administration just flat-out lie about
insurance coverage for program employees so I don't think it is
inappropriate to ask for the names of carriers, policy numbers or other
proof of coverage if it has been represented that coverage is
available. If they are unable or unwilling to provide that
information, you should do your gap analysis based on the assumption that
the coverage is only potential and not proven.
regards!
paul
Paul M. Wright, Jr.
Mesa, AZ
I'm currently gathering information on wages
and benefits for paramedics working on hospital based rotor wing services
across the US which have flight volumes of 300 to 600 patient transports
per year. If possible I would like to know if there is additional
compensation for instructor qualifications, or CCEMTP/ CFP
certification. I would also be interested in knowing how many
programs carry liability or accidental death insurance on their flight
crew Thanks in advance Daryl Michael NREMT-P flymedic@dtgnet.com
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