Angel MedFlight
Scottsdale, AZ
When a person thinks about transportation to and from the Emergency Room, the image of an ambulance charging down the street, lights blazing and sirens blaring often come to mind. But what if the patient had to travel much further than down the road? Where would you turn? This is where Angel MedFlight comes in.
Established in 2007, Angel MedFlight Worldwide Air Ambulance provides air ambulance services, which helps to streamline the medical transfer process for patients, their families and the case managers who care for them. Air ambulances are business class aircrafts that are customized medically with stretchers, advanced life support equipment, medications and a specialized flight-trained medical staff.
According to its website, the company was founded as an alternative to an inefficient system that overloaded hospital case managers and left patients stranded, waiting for their insurance companies to approve flight benefits. The medical flight crews transport seriously ill or injured patients in or out of all 50 states in the United States and 30 countries worldwide.
One member of the medical flight crew is Critical Care Flight Nurse Patrick Powers (right), CSN, RN, CFRN, CCRN, who has worked for Angel MedFlight for just over one year.
Powers, who has been in the healthcare field for 13 years, including serving as a Healthcare Specialist (EMT/LPN) in the U.S. Army, always had the goal of becoming a flight nurse.
“The beginning stages of my career were always geared towards this goal – I worked in the emergency room and in critical care because I knew those environments would be necessary in getting me to where I wanted to be in my career,” Powers said.
After stumbling across a job posting for Angel MedFlight, he investigated the position and quickly realized that this company was doing something special.
“I was amazed and humbled that the company even afforded me the chance to interview for them. Since joining the team, I have worked with a stellar group of clinicians who exemplify the importance of education and credentialing, which is something that is also very important to Angel [MedFlight],” he said.
In the short time he has been working with Angel MedFlight, Powers has become an active member of the Clinical Leadership Committee and Educational Committee. According to Powers, helping to improve and grow both himself and his peers is very important to him – a dedication echoed by the company itself.
“Angel MedFlight has so many credentials to be proud of: Platinum ratings from ARGUS International, Inc., the National Accreditation Alliance Medical Transport Applications (NAAMTA). Yet they still are dedicated to the education of their employees,” he said.
Recently, Angel MedFlight achieved the accomplishment of all its flight crew nurses obtaining a Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN®) certification.
Although the company did not mandate this as a requirement, Angel MedFlight Director of Clinical Services, Bambi Pish-Derr, credits the drive of its clinicians that pushed the team to achieving 100 % certification.
“The entire Angel MedFlight team believes in certification as a way to demonstrate our commitment to excellence in critical care flight transport, and supports this effort through financial and education resources,” Pish-Derr said.
“[The clinician’s] dedication made them successful, and our patient’s reap the benefits of their hard work. Our patients are fortunate to have this outstanding team of dedicated professionals who strive to enhance the patient transport experience through their commitment to quality and clinical expertise. I am honored and humbled to work alongside them.”
