Pennsylvania Code › Title 28 - HEALTH AND SAFETY › Part VII - Emergency Medical Services › Subpart A - EMS System › Chapter 1027 - EMS AGENCIES › Subchapter B - EMS AGENCY SERVICES › Section 1027.40 - Air ambulance service

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a)
Purpose.
An EMS agency that operates an air ambulance service
					 employs one or more air ambulances staffed by a crew capable of providing
					 medical assessment, observation, triage, monitoring, treatment and
					 transportation of patients who require EMS. An air ambulance should be employed
					 when time to administer definitive care to a patient is of the essence and
					 transportation by air ambulance to a receiving facility able to provide the
					 care is faster than transportation by ground ambulance, or when a patient
					 requires EMS provided by specialized equipment or providers not available on a
					 ground ambulance and the air ambulance can provide this faster than the patient
					 would receive such care at a receiving facility if transported by ground
					 ambulance.
(b)
Staffing.
The minimum staffing for an air ambulance crew when
					 responding to a call to transport a patient by air ambulance is a pilot and two
					 EMS providers above the AEMT level, with at least one of the EMS providers
					 being a paramedic, PHPE, PHRN or a PHP who has successfully completed an air
					 ambulance transport educational program approved by the Department. Provided
					 that one of the EMS providers is a paramedic, PHPE, PHRN or a PHP who has
					 successfully completed an air ambulance transport educational program approved
					 by the Department, another health care provider or providers may substitute for
					 a second EMS provider above the AEMT level to attend to a patient with special
					 medical needs if the EMS agency has submitted to the Department, and received
					 the Department's approval of, a plan that provides for substitution to attend
					 to the needs of those patients in accordance with the Department-approved
					 protocol the EMS agency has established for its air ambulance service.
					 Responding crew members may arrive at the scene separately, but the ambulance
					 shall be fully staffed at or above the minimum staffing level before
					 transporting a patient.
(c)
Transport of patient.
During patient transport, two EMS
					 providers who satisfy the minimum EMS provider staffing requirement in
					 subsection (b) shall accompany the patient in the patient compartment of the
					 ambulance and be available to attend to the patient during the
					 transport.
(d)
Flight
					 requirements.
(1) An EMS agency's
					 determination regarding whether to accept a flight shall be based solely on
					 availability, weather conditions and safety considerations.
(2) The crew of an air ambulance shall
					 apprise the dispatching ground PSAP as soon as practical after receiving a
					 dispatch call, its estimated time of arrival at the scene of the emergency.
					 While the air ambulance is en route to the scene of an emergency, if the crew
					 of the air ambulance believes that the air ambulance and required staff will
					 not be able to arrive at the emergency scene within the estimated time of
					 arrival previously given, the air ambulance crew shall contact the ground PSAP
					 and provide a new estimated time of arrival.