Proposed Regs May Significantly Effect The Air Medical Industry

The National EMS Pilots Association is gathering feedback from helicopter EMS pilots on proposed regulations that may become the most far-reaching rules to date for the Air Medical industry.

The association says the survey is for active EMS helicopter pilots only. The FAA NPRM that addresses the safety of commercial helicopter operations is currently accepting public comment on the FAA website. You can read a brief summary of the NPRM via a link on the NEMSPA website. The pilots association has initiated a survey to gather the opinions of air medical helicopter pilots on the specific issues of VFR pre-flight planning requirements for HEMS operations and on issues pertaining to IFR flying and inadvertent entry into IMC.

The surveys that NEMSPA has conducted during recent years have provided information that is being used by programs in the air medical industry to improve their safety cultures. The surveys have also been used by operators and by federal regulators to gain a more accurate picture of the current state of the industry from the critical viewpoints of EMS pilots. This survey is an opportunity for air medical pilots to collectively provide data and to express their professional opinions in a forum that may influence regulations that will determine the future course of the nationwide air medical industry. The NEMSPA encourages all active air medical helicopter pilots to complete the 5-minute survey.

www.nemspa.org