The Way It Is  

It depends on how you look at life. 

If by good job you mean a gig where you have to put out very little effort and have quite a bit of time off and a predictable schedule, in return for adequate (not great...with some exceptions...) money, the HAA is a pretty good deal.

On the other hand if you are an individual who is motivated by aviation and by having pride in your work, accomplishing something with the aircraft, that sort of thing...then HAA is not so good.

There are too many rules because for years this has been a de facto entry level job and there have been too many idiots flying HAA, resulting in a number of crashes. The number has in fact been not especially high, but HAA is high-vis, high-profile and with the Angel-o'-Mercy image, so when there's a crash and medical people and patients die, there is foo-fer-aw over it all out of proportion to the event. What has resuled is regulatory micromanagement and an insane level of hand-holding rules that, in practice, eliminate the need for any real talent and decision-making in the cockpit and reduce or eliminate any aviation job satisfaction. You have to understand what I'm talking about, if you don't get it, I can't explain it better. 

A lot of pilots are introverts, those who are won't do so well in the Hospital settings, where being a regular Joe and kind of chatty and outgoing and personable and political are necessary skills. If you can find a good independent (Stand-Alone) Base where people have lives outside of their work and are content to live and let live in exchange for just coming in, doing your job and then departing with a minimum of drama, it's OK. Just OK. 

I always get a lot of static when I say this next part, but those who deny it just don't get it and are the ones who tend to have problems in HAA: HAA is very very customer-oriented. And for the Pilots, the Med Crews are the first-level customers. What I mean is, HAA is not centered around flying, that is, it's not a helicopter industry thing that happens to carry sick people, it's a medical transport thing that happens to use helicopters instead of ground ambulances. It's kinda all about the Medical end of things, that's the service the business provides. There are people who deny this, as I say, and just don't get it. They'll be along to make negative comments shortly, so be it. If a Med Crew doesn't want to make some flight for some reason, they'll say so and that's it, you ain't going, and if you the Pilot attempt to make this an issue, you won't last long. I never could understand the problem some Pilots have with this, but then some Pilots really just aren't cut out for this end of the industry, in fact many Pilots aren't really cut out to be Pilots and that is why our accident rate is so high. 

I wish there was some kind of venue where people who are thinking of being HAA pilots could go for a webinar and just have lengthy and open-ended Q & A sessions and discussions with those who have a lot of time and experience in this end of the industry. I think it would head off a lot of problems. Time and again I have seen people come into a Base without a clear understanding of the job and they always cause a lot of problems and grief and drama before either leaving of their own free will or getting the boot.

Last point, I really would rather be doing something else than HAA. A lot of people in it feel that way but won't say anything for obvious reasons. The fact is that if you are a Pilot you want a flying job and HAA has evolved in this Country to be the largest employment segment for Helicopter Pilots. You have to know somebody to get a Utility or Ag job, or a Corporate Gig, and O & G (which used to be the biggest thing) is on the downslide and will continue that way. So if you want a career flying job that pays a living wage and that doesn't require nepotism, cronyism, or rascalism to get, well, you are pretty much stuck with HAA, if you choose to stay a helicopter Pilot or don't have the option of getting into the Fixed-Wing world.

These are some honest, real-world points of information. Those who are looking at HAA jobs should consider them. Not many will. And so it goes...