Are there PA and MD that work with flight transport?

[futureDr.T]

Hello, I am just curious if there are Doctors or PA's that work in flight transport? I am just curious because I recently heard there was flight nurses.

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[UWIdahoan]

I have only ever seen RNs utilized for this, but it may be different in other areas of the country. I'm not sure what other's have seen.

 

[Wolvvs]

Are you referring to emergency transport specifically? Usually emergency transport aircraft are covered by a nurse and a paramedic (depending on the state, the two licenses complement each other well with each one capable of doing things the other cannot), but some medical transport services use a doctor. See this one: Air Ambulance Services | Medical Capabilities - AirMed International

I don't know about PA/NP. My sense is that these services are generally premium and therefore are less likely to go for midlevel providers, but I don't know enough about the topic to say for sure.

 

[Wolvvs]

Also this is just the US--other countries definitely have flight doctors. See here for a job posting: Retrieval Doctors - Western Australia | Royal Flying Doctor Service

 

[futureDr.T]

Are you referring to emergency transport specifically? Usually emergency transport aircraft are covered by a nurse and a paramedic (depending on the state, the two licenses complement each other well with each one capable of doing things the other cannot), but some medical transport services use a doctor. See this one: Air Ambulance Services | Medical Capabilities - AirMed International

I don't know about PA/NP. My sense is that these services are generally premium and therefore are less likely to go for midlevel providers, but I don't know enough about the topic to say for sure.

Great! Thank you for the information. I appreciate it.

 

[seanm028]

Working in EMS, I can tell you that the RN + paramedic combination is standard. Specialty services (e.g. neonatal, high risk OB, critical care) frequently have a respiratory therapist. Higher quality agencies will put a physician on flights with extremely critical patients. Physicians are standard on HEMS (helicopter EMS) agencies in many European and Australian services.

The only time I've seen a mid-level provider on a flight was an NNP (neonatal NP) working with an RN on a neonatal transport service.