Medevac Flying

bizjet_mania · Post by **bizjet_mania** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:08 pm

I was wondering if anyone here flies Medevac, how they enjoy the job and how hard is it on your personal life? Thanks.

flyinhigh · Post by **flyinhigh** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:17 pm

Hey,

I fly medivac's and have been for just over a year. Personally I love it, the diversity of the job is amazing and you may if your lucky get to play with some pretty cool drugs(

I wish).

Over all I think it is great, you just have to remember that when you are on the pager it is exactly that, it goes off you go. So if your in the middle of a golf game and it goes off well its your own fault as you knew when you took the job that it can happen. I plan my days accordingly, when I am on the schedule I'll go to the gym, have coffee, whatever, and plan all the fun stuff on my days off.

Most operators are running a 10 on 5 off schedule around yqt as well so you get to have a life outside of work.

Hope it helps

snapped · Post by **snapped** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:26 pm

Pay is usually higher too!

water wings · Post by **water wings** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:42 pm

medevac is what it is.
You have a purpose each and every flight, but your flights may very well be at 3 AM until you run out of duty, or worse yet, at 10pm till dutied out... and midnight may very well be the start of your day off. So it's hard not to be paranoid about the thing that beeps (pager) as a day off may not really happen when you planned. But...that doesn't happen too often. In any case, i like where i work, the crews are great- something about being awake and going to s**tholes at night that brings you closer together... i just made that part up.
Honestly, i hate the pager and can't wait to throw the bitch in the harbour when (if) i quit this life we call medevac. Microwaves and price checks make me jump and instinctively look at my hip. not cool.

Pugster · Post by **Pugster** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:06 pm

I was in a cab the other day and the drivers pager went off.

My heart still picks up whenever I hear one of those goddamn things!

Medevac is a great job with the right company. I did 18 months of it, and really enjoyed it - but like any other job, if you want to have a life, it's all about winding up working for a company that has a good schedule. Get a bad schedule, and it can be pretty rough to hold down a normal life.

Mclovin · Post by **Mclovin** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:25 pm

I flew medevac for a while, and it has its ups and downs. The experience was good for my first turbine job and going into gravel strips in the middle of the night was always a pretty good thrill. I did see some pretty cool stuff flying medevacs, but I was ready to move along from it pretty quickly.

There can be some long days and some really long nights. Having to carry a cell or pager around all the time like others mentioned can be trying some times. In my medevac experience it was either feast or famine, either you were flying your ass off for a few days straight or you were sitting on it waiting for the phone to ring, knowing that if you plan to do anything like get a haircut or groceries you are gonna get called out.

Next, I don't know about other medevac crews, but sometimes you see some pretty disturbing things flying medevacs. Some of the patients get pretty banged up sometimes, and these are some things you have to be able to deal with as well. Some people have a hard time seeing blood, badly injured people, or even death. I am not saying this is the case all the time, but if you do the job long enough you are bound to see some things that you might not like.

Now this was my experience and opinion, and some people do enjoy it. I have some friends who work for some great companies, who treat there pilots well, have decent schedules, and pay well. Some guys are career and thats there thing, and they do a hell of a job.

Just some things to think about.

magellan · Post by **magellan** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:47 pm

Been doing the medevac thing for going on 6 years and there are some pros and cons to the whole thing. I can be on call and hang at a starbucks or relax at home. As long as you realize that the for time period you're on call you can be yanked out and that you can't make any firm plans then it's all good. It can be pretty frustrating at times and I almost get heart palpitations when my cell rings in the wee hours but it's the name of the game. Fortunately I work for a solid company and the pay and sched is pretty good. That being said if I have to do medevac for the rest of my aviation career I may hang myself with my shower curtain eventually. Also medevac flying for us isnt a real time builder so if you want to climb the career ladder at a relatively fast pace you may want to consider a different type of flying.

McPhoo · Post by **McPhoo** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:10 pm

Well you know, when I first started working for where I work, I had heard the average time a pilot spent doing medevac was around three years. That was six an a half years ago and I am still doing and still loving it!

So I think it just depends on what kind of person you are, what you want out of life and where you get the job. Me? I like knowing that many(not all

) trips I do are actually helping someone. There is a very real feeling of giving to society and not just taking. So I like that. Also, I just want a decent living from what I have chosen to do with my life at work(I have a life outside of work too - believe it or not!). If I ever make it to the big time I suppose it doesn't matter as long as I am still loving my job. That is what really matters to me. When I get sick of doing this is when I send out a resume.

There is lots I like about Medevac flying. I like the unknown of what my day will bring. I like the challenge of short notice and high stress. I go from sleeping peacefully to 250knts in twenty minutes! Most people I know go from sleeping to the shower in twenty minutes! Yawn.
I like the somewhat autonomous life of self dispatch. I like working with a small, familliar and very effiecnt crew(that includes the medics) that works like a serious team to get the job done right. I like flying the King Air B200. It might not be anything fancy. So what (for now

). It is a trusty bird and I feel like I could almost go to hell and back in that thing. My boss doesn't micro-manage. If I don't bend anything he leaves me to do it how I like. The maintenance is super and I trust the planes and how they are looked after. Sure I'd like to see the artificial horizon on the FO's side straightened but everything that keeps us in the air works! I could go on but I'll spare you

Personal lilfe? That has everything to do with who you work for. I got lucky which is why I am still at the some outfit. I work 7 on 7 off with 12 hour shifts. The FO's do 14 on 7 off. Days off are days off. Period. If I want to do a charter on the side and pocket some cash it is up to me with absolutly no pressure. I have loads of time with my family. Six months of the year I don't work! The other six months I hardly work! I am paid salary so I dont have the pressure to fly or not for fear of not making the mortgage. If I get 350 hours a years I am extatic ( which is the main bummer if you are trying to time build). How hard can it be really? I can't count the number of days I spent this summer at the beach with the pager handy. If I got a call the family piled into the van and they dropped me off at the hanger in five minutes. Sandcastles to flying in twenty. Do I see trend here?! What can I say. Life has been good the last six years. If you get the wrong employer though your life will be markedly different. I'll leave it to others to fill that in for you!

The real deal breaker will be where and who you work for. There are lots of junk places but there are more and more outfits who are doing a better job at providing a decent place to earn a living.

You have to like or at least handle working crazy hours. Your body will not know if it should be sleeping, eating or working for your days on shift. The circadian rythyms for my body were distroyed years ago. Do oozing and bloody people make you sick? Better try doing something else! Do you get along with people? Cause from my experiance this job is too close knit to not be good at mending fences. Medivac companies in general are small and there arn't alot of choices of who you get to work with. Fit in or get out is usually how it works.

If you think you wanna try it. Find someone who will let you job shadow. Take it for a test drive and really see if it is what you want. It is not just a job. It is a lifestyle. Some like it. Some hate it but everyone who has done it has an opinion.

Good luck (as long as you are not an idiot

).

co-joe · Post by **co-joe** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 12:24 am

Well I personall had enough medevacs in 4 years doing them. There are perks...but I can't remember any of them right now...Somebody please hire me to fly scheds! Please? I don't care if I fly to the same 3 airports 100 times a week, I just want a schedule. I want days off, once in a while where all my non-av friends aren't working. The next medevac I fly will be when I'm 80 and fall down in the shower and break a hip...and I intent to whine all the way until they give me fentinol, morphine, or both.

wallypilot · Post by **wallypilot** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 1:41 am

It's all perspective, hey. I have a good paying job with a good company, but work month on/month off (the month on is away from home). But i would give anything to move to a 8 days on 4 days off schedule based out of my home city.

Work the same number of days in a year, but never have to go away for a month!

-wp

bezerker · Post by **bezerker** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 9:03 am

I think there are two types of medivac.

One is where you sit at the airport on duty for 12 hours, waiting for a call. Then you go home for 12. When you are on duty, you know what you are in for and probably look forward to a call early in the day. You have a schedule and work something like 4 on 4 off, or 10 on 4 off, or whatever. I think this is the way to go (for me anyway), you have set time off every day. Example: if you were on a 6 and 4, you would be working 72 hrs every 10 days.

The other is where you are on reserve 24 hrs a day. You work the same type of days on/off as above (or worse, such as recycling on the road). When you are on, you hate your pager/phone/blackberry. I think this way sucks because you can't plan on anything for your days on (the majority of the month). In the example above, over a 10 day period, you would actually be working for 142 hours.

I know that you can go golfing or whatever on reserve, while on duty you have to sit at the airport and play xbox. Some will prefer the golf. After years of being on the reserve system, I can tell you it plays hell with your family life.

On another note, for those of you planning the corporate jet career, most companies run 2-4 pilots per jet and you will be on reserve alot, if not pretty much all the time. You will look impressive on the ramp with your Lear or Falcon, but at home you will be cowering in fear at the sound of your phone, then of your wife.

RFN · Post by **RFN** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 2:58 pm

MedEvac flying can be great.
The preflight prep is usually very short, and you hardly ever have to set your alarm. Just wake up when the phone rings, or else when you damn well feel like it.
I actually enjoy MedEvac now, something I would have laughed at 1 1/2 years ago.
It all depends on your crew, and most of all the company you work for.

critical engine · Post by **critical engine** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 5:57 pm

Medivac also lets you get back to the bar and beers faster than non medivac flights. That should be enough to make fly medivac right there!