Emergency medical services
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These guidelines were developed as national EMS voluntary standards to: 1) Establish standard nomenclature for levels of aeromedical crew members; 2) Define the training requirements for each level; 3) Define the medical control requirements for aeromedical crew members; 4) Describe the application of the standards; and 5) Describe the general content areas of the training of aeromedical crew members. The AMA Commission on EMS has reviewed the current draft of the proposed national EMS voluntary standards and decided to accept them for inclusion in this second edition of the Air Ambulance Guidelines with the expectation that the final version of the ASTM Committee F-30 standard will be essentially the same as the current draft standard. The guidelines are designed to acquaint practicing physicians, especially those practicing in rural and remote areas, with the following factors which affect the transportation of patients by air ambulance: 1) Risks to the patient flying at high altitudes; 2) Equipment, both general and specific, required to render anticipated care; 3) Qualifications of personnel aboard the air ambulance, and the level of care required in transit; 4) Care required for specific medical and surgical conditions during flight.