Original Message

I was, at one time, an Army Medevac pilot.

I entered civilian EMS in 1986.

At that time, working conditions on the civilian side were deplorable, FAA oversight negligible (72 hours on, 48 off, 24 on call), essentially no wx mins, etc. But, we were, at that time, a "third crewmember" for patient care...a team looking out for each other AND the patient...through the FAA and Union representation they improved...for a time....  

My first chief flight nurse, 1986, drummed into me that I had to look to the complete flight profile..acceptance, patient pick up, delivery to recieving facility and RTB.

Now, I find myself called on the carpet, more than once, for asking questions regarding simple things such as part 135 planning for reasonable expectations for "late flights", that could be accomplished without leaving the crew at the sending facility (with a possible wait of an hour or more for ground transportation to the sending facility with a ground component to get the crew to the patient for packaging)...none of this is my concern anymore, I'm told.

I used to be proud of what I do, now, I'm just an UBER/LYFT driver, who was personaly challenged in my community not long ago, about the bill a family received for a non-emergent transport...my response, "They push the button, we go."

Bottom line, to you young folks looking at "opportunities", stay away, stay very far away from this...