long IFT

[NomadicMedic]

I just got back from the longest IFT I've done.

Took a BLS patient from Central Washington to Boise, it was a 750 mile round trip.

 

[DarkStarr]

wow, that is long. whatd you do to keep busy?

 

[TransportJockey]

I did one from ABQ to Denver. 800 mile round trip. The most boring call I've ever been on.

 

[MMiz]

I never understood why people would rather pay an ambulance company a boatload of money for a long distance transport instead of paying a fraction of the amount to an air ambulance service.

 

[NomadicMedic]

wow, that is long. whatd you do to keep busy?

I sang along with the radio and enjoyed the scenery.

 

[DrankTheKoolaid]

re

Far northern california (name withheld to protect the umm innocent) to Barstow, CA 1238 miles round trip.

Horrible, poorly planned IFT.

OCD patient with a washing a certain body part fetish / OCD issue. 20 minutes of blocking the bathroom door from the public at every rest stop so he could use restroom / wash himself......... made for a VERY long trip

 

[Flight-LP]

i never understood why people would rather pay an ambulance company a boatload of money for a long distance transport instead of paying a fraction of the amount to an air ambulance service.

+10

 

[Minnick27]

My company regularly does Philly to Pittsburg, which is about 700 miles round trip. We were recently asked to do a trip to Chicago, but when the family found out how much it would cost they changed their mind. Crappy thing is, for the 1500 mile round trip my company wasn't gonna spring for a hotel room so they could nap, they were going to send an extra driver so they could sleep in shifts while driving straight through.

 

[johnrsemt]

I did a few from Indianapolis to Northern WI, 650 each way, or to Duluth MN 625 each way.

they can be boring but I tell you when the patient has issues it is fun to find a hospital.

We got waved down for a chest pain on the side of the road by a state trooper in WI, that was interesting

 

[Sasha]

I never understood why people would rather pay an ambulance company a boatload of money for a long distance transport instead of paying a fraction of the amount to an air ambulance service.

My company took one alll the way up to Pittsburgh from Kissimmee (south of Orlando.) because the patient was terrified of flying.

 

[Sasha]

My company regularly does Philly to Pittsburg, which is about 700 miles round trip. We were recently asked to do a trip to Chicago, but when the family found out how much it would cost they changed their mind. Crappy thing is, for the 1500 mile round trip my company wasn't gonna spring for a hotel room so they could nap, they were going to send an extra driver so they could sleep in shifts while driving straight through.

Wow. Even my cheapy company would put you in a hotel for the night, and pay for all food there and back.

 

[johnrsemt]

My company used to pay for hotel and sleeping, then started doing 3 people driving. both have problems,

 

[HotelCo]

I love doing long IFTs. Especially if it's to a cool destination (like somewhere near the beach). Once you've dropped your patient off, you've got time to do pretty much whatever you want for at least 2 hours.

 

[Akulahawk]

I once did an IFT from Stanford to a facility in Grants Pass. That was a 700 mile round trip. The trip up there was pretty easy. The trip back was a little different. We saw the front half of a Buck in the center divide. Then we saw the back half of the Buck straddling the #3/4 lanes. Then we saw the Toyota 4Runner that hit it... Darndest thing I ever saw. It looked like it had been sliced in half pretty cleanly. Couldn't have happened more than a minute or two prior to us driving by... No injuries or apparent damage to the Toyota.

 

[usafmedic45]

I never understood why people would rather pay an ambulance company a boatload of money for a long distance transport instead of paying a fraction of the amount to an air ambulance service.

Unless the pay scale for a ground IFT have shot up recently, I think it boils down to money. I'm not sure of many cases where "a fraction of that amount" is a good description of air ambulance transport that can range up to $25,000.

If the patient is clinically stable and not on any IVs or something like that (think "transcontinental nursing home transfer"), it would probably be cheapest just to buy the EMT and the patient each a commercial ticket and be done with it. I did a few international medical repatriation missions like this for a friend of mine in Germany when I first got out of the service. Nothing like having your beeper go off and find out you're going to be heading out in the morning on the following itinerary:
Indianapolis-Chicago-LAX-Singapore-Munich-Chicago-Indianapolis (basically around the world in like five days)

 

[FrostbiteMedic]

My company took one alll the way up to Pittsburgh from Kissimmee (south of Orlando.) because the patient was terrified of flying.

Ouch! Longest I ever did was a Chattanooga, TN to Kissimmee........no offense to any floridians in here but I have to say that Orlando traffic is horrendous!!!!!!

 

[katgrl2003]

The longest IFT I've ever done was northwest Indiana to Tampa, Florida. 1095 miles one way.

 

[bigbaldguy]

If the patient is clinically stable and not on any IVs or something like that (think "transcontinental nursing home transfer"), it would probably be cheapest just to buy the EMT and the patient each a commercial ticket and be done with it. )

Please don't give them ideas. I've already had one medical flight diversion this year already lol

 

[MMiz]

It's actually quite common for airlines to have medical staff on board with a patient.

I'm not sure if those of you commenting about the price are actually aware of the cost of air medical transport services. It is my understanding that air transport is comparable, if not cheaper, than ground transport.

The service I worked at loved the money from long distance transfers, but often suggested patients contact air medical transport services.

 

[usafmedic45]

It is my understanding that air transport is comparable, if not cheaper, than ground transport.

A case we flew recently from Florida back to the Midwest was quoted prices from several other services all in the ball park of $15,000-18,000. It's very similar to how a ground ambulance ride after a car accident might set you back $500-1,000 compares to the $4,000-12,000 for a HEMS "ride".