• Michael A Frakes and Wendy R Lord.
• LIFE STAR/Hartford Hospital, 80 Seymour Street, Hartford, CT 06102-5037, USA. mfrakes@harthosp.org
• Air Med. J. 2004 Sep 1; 23 (5): 38-40.

IntroductionEmergency medical technician (EMT) or paramedic (EMTP) certification requirements for flight nurses (FNs) providing on-scene patient care vary. We surveyed those requirements and evaluated the relationships between flight team composition or program location and FN EMS certification.MethodsTelephone survey of all 184 rotor-wing programs responding with a nurse to scenesResultsThe overall EMS training requirement for FNs was: none-57.6%, EMT-21.7%, EMTP-14.7%, local credential (not EMT or EMTP)-6.0%. Second team members were EMTP, RN, physician, or respiratory therapist (RRT). Overall, team configuration related significantly to FN EMS certification (P =.01). FN/EMTP and FN/RRT teams were individually significant (P <.01), with FN/EMTP teams tending not to require certification and all FN/RRT teams tending toward a certification requirement. Neither FN/FN nor FN/physician pairings related significantly with FN EMS certification requirements. Regional patterns emerged to both crew configuration and FN EMS certification requirements.ConclusionMost flight programs do not require FN EMT/EMTP certification. Team configuration and geography are related to those requirements.

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