The Army has Air Amulance units - flying either UH-1 Hueys or UH-60 Blackhawks. I have been an Army MEDEVAC pilot for the last 8 years - long hours, lots of places to be, but it can be incredibly interesting and challenging. We also have one unit in Alabama that flies King Air 200s (twin engine turboprops) for long distance transports (this is where I am currently stationed). We always have an army medic on board, but we do bring a flight surgeon whenever the case is complicated or if the patient is unstable (the flight surgeons don't come out on our trauma rescue stuff - just the long range transfers). We do more civilian missions than military missions, but, under the Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic (MAST) agreement, we aren't allowed to take a civilian air ambulance operators mission. If they aren't willing or able to do it, we do it. In general, their requirements for weather conditions are higher than ours, they can't carry as much weight (only the military can afford heavy helicopters and the fuel they burn), so we end up doing alot of the missions at night (we have Night Vision Goggles, they don't), in worse weather, and anything involving a rescue hoist. (This isn't meant to take anything away from the civilian operators - they are almost all ex-Army pilots with ENORMOUS sets of b**ls, but they have insurance requirements and business cost considerations that we don't - so our rules are more lax) There are Army Air Ambulance units stationed all over (Washington state, Colorado, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee), but most are in Iraq right now. (Fly safe, boys and girls) Anyway, if you have any questions, PM me or whatever, I am going to med school next fall, either on an HPSP (already accepted), or USUHS (interviewed, waiting for answer -my first choice, by far!).
