RE: Southwest Air opinions??

["Mark Frederick" <Mark.Frederick@north-slope.org>]

one thing that impressed me about the outfit i'm with is the amount of grey hair our pilots have!  in other words, they have a lot of flight hours, and have lived to tell the tale.  reckless or sloppy pilots don't.

-----Original Message-----
From: William Wingfield [mailto:will@willwingfield.com]
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2003 11:32 AM
To: flightmed@flightweb.com
Subject: Re: Southwest Air opinions??


If you are new in the field, the best thing you can do is research.  
Research the practices of established, long-standing, CAMTS 
accredited programs.  See what their aircraft standards are, pilot 
experience minimums, medic experience minimums, number of accidents, 
Better Business Bureau stuff etc.  Then compare that to whomever 
you're considering... 

Call whomever you're considering and ask them if you can speak with a 
duty medic.  Ask that duty medic, "What are your flight minimums?"  
If the medic doesn't understand the question or has to ask his pilot 
for the answer; that says a lot.  A good organization will teach the 
medical crew these things and make them memorize them.  That is the 
only way you can assure the medical crew is backing up the pilot in 
safe flying decisions.  Find out what capabilities they have.  Are 
they doing anything above and beyond what ground crews can?  A BIG 
question to ask is, "Are the medics and nurses considered completely 
equal in capability and responsibility?  Can the medics give any med 
the nurses do?  Do they chart or just sign whatever the nurse writes 
down?  If the answers indicate inequality, BEWARE, the teamwork 
needed to run a successful and safe flight service is seriously in 
question.  Ask if they've ever had a hard-landing or crash.  If the 
answer is "yes" that doesn't necessarily mean you should avoid them.  
If the answer was "yes", your next question must be, "What has your 
organization done to make sure that never happens again?".  If their 
answer is "we fired the pilot", that's not necessarily what you want 
to hear.  You want to hear that pilot/crew education/training was 
enhanced.  Minimums were reviewed/changed.  Safety programs were 
enhanced or simply created, etc...

No doubt about it, this is a dangerous business.  Going into it blind 
is more dangerous.  Ask questions!  If their answers sound fishy, 
walk away!  Don't let "cocky" attitudes and responses intimidate you 
from getting the real scoop.  A good organization will be honest, up 
front and have solid answers for you.

Good luck
Will Wingfield, AS, NREMTP, CCEMTP, FP-C



---- Original message ----
>Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 14:02:05 -0600
>From: "John Fraleigh" <JohnF@wi.rr.com>  
>Subject: Southwest Air opinions??  
>To: <flightmed@flightweb.com>
>
>I'm new in the field and am looking for opinions/comments about 
Soutwest Air
>Ambulance.  Please e-mail me directly at johnf@wi.rr.com  with 
suggestions.
>If you work/worked for this company, I would really love to hear 
from you.
>No rumors please.  Thank you.
>
>
>
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