I'm not an EMS pilot, but crew with the UW MedFlight program in
Madison, WI. We are actually one of the few programs that is certified
to fly IFR with patients. We have Augusta 109 Powers with dual Garmin
430's and FADEC, auto-pilots etc, etc.
All very nice.
But we will NOT fly in ANY weather.
Being a pilot myself, I was curious when I first started doing this
what the pilots attitude about weather decisions would be, especially
since the first program I flew with (LIFELINE in Indianapolis) was VFR
only.
I have found that our pilot are very professional, and VERY
conservative about the weather despite our capabilities. With the
recent spotlight on EMS operations (including the several front page
articles on "USA Today" and national news reports), the recent spate of
accidents, including a program losing two 109's recently, and the fact
that something like 10% of the EMS fleet has been lost/involved in
accidents in the last 5 years; this is appropriate.
With our daily crew briefings, the pilots try to stress the safety
aspect. I think we are all too aware that one bad decision or problem
seperates us from a smoking hole in the ground. What has surprised me
is that it is not an attitude of "that won't happen to us" that seems
to permeate much of aviation (and sometimes medicine) but an attitude
of "if it can happen to them, it can happen to us, so pay attention!
(and unofficially: keep your head out of your rectum!).
I enjoy the EMS flying immensely, it can be quite challenging at times
just from a medical perspective, let alone adding in the challenges of
flight.