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I want to be a professional (non-airline) pilot when I grow up

ChuckMK23

ChuckMK23

FERS and TSP contributor!
pilot
http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2019/01/missouri-rips-air-ambulance-companies.html

This story has been emerging for a number of years and now a real risk to HEMS business model in US. I believe in 1998 our average flight was billed under $5k. Our 2 aircraft program had a budget of around $6mm per year and the hospital took a 20% or so loss because it was viewed as a community service and at the time we were the only Level 1 trauma center within 100 miles. The hospital never asked for the program to stand on its own.

Fast forward to today... and the results of rapid increase in program and aircraft in HEMS. It will be a tough public relations challenge at best. And the providers are often on shaky ground when the press cases in small claims court.

@Gatordev probably has some insight
 
ChuckMK23

ChuckMK23

FERS and TSP contributor!
pilot
A few more rural programs have resorted to this kind of business model - pay an annual "subscription" and be guaranteed a discount on list prices for air transport...

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Griz882

Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
pilot
Contributor
picklesuit said:
Paying for protection...huh...seems like the mob had that racket cornered a century ago.
Click to expand...
My brother lived in Wyoming for a while and there a good neighbor (who lived several miles away) would use his own helicopter for emergency hospital runs. It had no medical equipment, but he was a very popular guy and the people always tried to give what they could for fuel. The county also asked him to fly the occasional SAR run or sheriff observation flight. And yes, he was (is) a wealthy guy.
 
wink

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
picklesuit said:
Paying for protection...huh...seems like the mob had that racket cornered a century ago.
Click to expand...
For many years the fire service was subscription, and sometimes private. It was the origins of residential fire insurance. Sometimes the fire "departments" were competitors in the same area. Homes and businesses paid for protection and got a large cast iron medallion to place at the front of the business. That identified the company that you had a subscription with. Others might pass by.
 
nittany03

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
wink said:
For many years the fire service was subscription, and sometimes private. It was the origins of residential fire insurance. Sometimes the fire "departments" were competitors in the same area. Homes and businesses paid for protection and got a large cast iron medallion to place at the front of the business. That identified the company that you had a subscription with. Others might pass by.
Click to expand...
Just because something was done in the past doesn’t make it a model worth emulating, any more than something’s being new makes it automatically better.
 
Gatordev

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
picklesuit said:
Paying for protection...huh...seems like the mob had that racket cornered a century ago.
Click to expand...

It's no different than any other kind of insurance. Have a homeowner's policy? Well, that doesn't include flood insurance, so pay extra for that protection, just in case.

Living out where Air Evac services, $85/year seems pretty cheap when there aren't any other fast EMS options and you may be at risk.

Griz882 said:
My brother lived in Wyoming for a while and there a good neighbor (who lived several miles away) would use his own helicopter for emergency hospital runs. It had no medical equipment, but he was a very popular guy and the people always tried to give what they could for fuel. The county also asked him to fly the occasional SAR run or sheriff observation flight. And yes, he was (is) a wealthy guy.
Click to expand...

Does your brother live near Harrison Ford? I know he would help out local LE with SAR and other Ops.
 
Griz882

Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
pilot
Contributor
Gatordev said:
It's no different than any other kind of insurance. Have a homeowner's policy? Well, that doesn't include flood insurance, so pay extra for that protection, just in case.

Living out where Air Evac services, $85/year seems pretty cheap when there aren't any other fast EMS options and you may be at risk.



Does your brother live near Harrison Ford? I know he would help out local LE with SAR and other Ops.
Click to expand...
I don’t think he was the guy. Oil or Natural Gas money as I recall.
 
Griz882

Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
pilot
Contributor
The bird belongs to PHI, but I'm not sure its an "ordinary" contractor job. Now I must venture into conjecture...SOF contract in support of the Kurds?

Enough of that! Why didn't the USAF replace their aging Pave Hawks with the H-92 Superhawk?
 
wink

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
nittany03 said:
Just because something was done in the past doesn’t make it a model worth emulating, any more than something’s being new makes it automatically better.
Click to expand...
Firstly I wasn't speficly implying endorsement of the private fire protection model. I was putting out that it wasnt an organized criminal enterprise that formed the first fire protection models in this country. It was an entrepreneurial enterprise that birthed the modern fire service. To continue the education for those that have heart burn with the private subscription notion of emergency services, consider Rural Metro. I lived in a city of over 250,000 people that was served by RM. We paid the subscription like any other municipal service such as water or trash pick up. Worked fine.
 
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