Characterizing Air Medical Transport Experiences in Emergency Medicine Residency Training Programs

Air medical transportation (AMT) of patients plays a critical role in the prehospital care of the ill patient. Despite its importance, there is no requirement in emergency medicine training programs to have direct experience or education on the topic, and data detailing current AMT experiences across programs are limited.

A survey detailing program characteristics, AMT experience characteristics, and curriculum factors relating to AMT experience was sent to all 275 credentialed emergency medicine residency training programs in the United States. Our outcomes were to describe the characteristics of AMT and non-AMT programs (proportions) and to evaluate associations (odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals) between program characteristics and 1) AMT experience opportunity and 2) level of resident participation among AMT programs.

Two hundred (73%) programs responded, with 135 of 200 (68%) offering some type of AMT experience. The majority of programs offering AMT were 3 years (113 [84%]), university based (63 [47%]), and located in small urban areas (57 [42%]). When AMT was offered, most programs reported that the overall resident participation was low (≤ 20%). Programs that did not offer shift reduction or additional pay for participation in AMT were significantly more likely to have low participation than those with incentives (odds ratio = 4.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.8-15.3). Around one third of AMT experiences allowed for direct patient care. Less than half of the responding programs reported a dedicated AMT curriculum.

The majority of emergency medicine residency training programs offer an AMT experience, but this experience is highly variable, and overall participation by residents is low. Given the importance of AMT in the care of emergency patients, standardization and increased access to AMT experience and education should be considered by emergency medicine training programs moving forward.