Pilot and Clinical Crew Safety

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Pilot and Clinical Crew Safety

I Refused The Transport! But Was that the Right Call?
Kevin Collopy, MHL, FP-C, NRP, CMTE; Novant Health AirLink/VitaLink

It happens, a transport is refused. “Weather no go,” that is an easy one. But what happens when a crew member says no? Because they are tired, have concerns about support, or a bad feeling? What if they need to get 8 charts done? Embracing a culture that empowers team members to refuse a transport takes more than a policy statement and it only takes one “fall out” to create a “fear of refusing.”

Come join in a conversation that discusses removing the debate over a transport turn down. Kevin will take you from philosophy to practice as we break apart the reasons for a transport turn down. After taking the controversy out of a right-to-refuse, this presentation will describe best practices in documenting, reviewing, and trending transport refusals; the conversation will then shift towards the proactive and describe tools to mitigate the need for refusals to occur. Participants will leave with tools to make more objective decisions while improving their opportunity to report and share the decision making process.

When Pressure is Personal! A Second Look at Hazardous Attitudes
Kenneth Cerney, HAA Pilot; Leader-Team Dynamics LLC

For years, flight instructors have been talking about and training new pilots on something called hazardous attitudes. These dangerous decision-making attitudes not only affect safe professional pilots but also non-pilot crew members trained in good CRM/AMRM. At AMTC 2018, Ken discussed how these self-induced pressures to fly affect the entire crew leading to an atmosphere in the aircraft that may have caused several well-known accidents/incidents. Live Polling during that session showed the 2 most hazardous attitudes by all attendants were “Resignation” and “Get-home-itis/Press-on-itis”. Followed closely by “Complacency”. Ken has continued looking at how personality conflicts, Hazardous Attitudes, and the Stress Effect® can easily lead to the need to just get along and not speak up at crucial moments. Come see what the antidote to these hazardous attitudes is, and when/how crew members should intervene, so we all come home safely.

Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Implementing a Ground SMS
Jacob Dalstra, B.S., NRP, FPC; MedX AirOne

The air medical industry has seen tremendous focus on the development and improvement of safety management systems over the past few decades. Learn how to apply the best practices from air medical safety management to ground EMS transport. This session will cover: developing a safety culture, developing a down-time policy, creating and managing risk and fatigue assessments. We will also review a case study.

Achieving High Reliability Using Just Culture Principles
Susan Gidding, MHS, RN, RRT; Life Flight Network

This session will highlight lessons in high reliability, a Just Culture and Human Factors and how to apply these lessons toward improving quality and safety in the Air Medical Industry.

Elements that have proven critical to the safety of high-risk industries like Commercial Aviation and nuclear power are equally relevant to the Air Medical industry will be presented.

Bad Weather! Can You Help Me Fly the Aircaraft?
Jerry Bastian, Intermountain Life Flight

Non-flying crew members play a crucial role in supporting pilots, particularly in challenging weather conditions. Human error remains a significant factor in aviation accidents, with CFIT (Controlled Flight into Terrain) accounting for a substantial number of fatal incidents, especially among single-piloted helicopters. Unfortunately, air ambulance operators have witnessed a concerning rise in accidents in recent years.

Many of these accidents occur when pilots face low ceilings and limited visibility. Helicopter pilots, in particular, tend to avoid flying in the clouds and may even resort to flying the aircraft dangerously close to the ground. They rely on visual references and convince themselves that they can maintain control. However, this approach diminishes their situational awareness, compromises their ability to fly instruments effectively, overwhelms them with workload, and ultimately jeopardizes the safety of the flight.

In such critical situations, non-flying crew members, despite not being at the controls, can make a significant positive impact by assisting the pilot and preventing accidents. This presentation will explore specific questions that crew members can ask the pilot to help avert these incidents. Effective communication plays a pivotal role in eliminating potential issues and is a key aspect of successful Crew Resource Management (CRM).