Working Together for the Safety of Your Community

Every 90 seconds, in communities across the United States, the air medical industry responds to people whose lives are changed in an instant – an automobile accident, a stroke, a heart attack.

Every AMOA member has taken the initiative to voluntarily make numerous safety enhancements. Cooperation between regulators and the air medical community, enhancements in training, operational control and safety management systems, and the implementation of new technologies have resulted in an unprecedented level of safety and a continually declining accident rate.

AMOA Members Commit to Enhanced Training

Air medical services operate in a myriad of operating environmentsand with several different types of aircraft with different capabilities and limitations. While there are other safety objectives listed here, none of them can provide a level of risk mitigation equal to that of a frequent training program that makes use of available Flight Training Devices (FTD's), simulators or operational aircraft with instructors providing simulated scenarios, including Inadvertent Instrument meteorological conditions (IIMC) on at least a semi-annual recurrent basis.

Terrain and Obstacle Avoidance

AMOA members believe that all helicopters performing air medical transport services operate with the necessary equipment and procedures to achieve terrain and obstacle avoidance that the operator deems appropriate for their area and operation. This system can be achieved by any of the following:

  • Operating with Night Vision or Night Vision Imaging System
  • Operating with some type of Helicopter Terrain Alert Warning System (HTAWS)
  • Operating under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR)

AMOA Committed to Safety Management Systems

Safety Management Systems (SMS) is a critical component to any aviation operation; AMOA members are committed to working with the FAA and the aviation community to share best practices and procedures to ensure that these systems are as effective for small operators as they have been for large commercial operations. AMOA members share hazard identifications and risk mitigation strategies to help ensure system saferty across the fleet.

Oversight and Data Collection

Effective management oversight is a critical safety component; it is not enough to provide enhanced regulations and procedures- operators must also monitor those enhancements and provide effective guidance on risk assessment and mitigation. It is the position of the AMOA that air medical operators provide effective management oversight through the further development of Operational Control concepts, including:

  • Satellite Tracking or ADS-B Capability
  • Approved Risk Assessment and Risk Management Procedures
  • Regional or Centralized Operational Control Systems

Our Mission

is to ensure the provision, to our customer and the communities we serve, of safe and successful air medical transportation. The Air Medical Operators Association (AMOA) is committed to providing the highest level of safety in air medical transport. AMOA has the goal of reducing the industry’s accident rate by concentrating industry resources, sharing best safety practices, and a common obligation to raise the standard of operation in training, safety management, and data collection and analysis.  To ensure our shared responsibility as aviation service providers, AMOA is committed to the implementation of technology, procedures, and operating systems that will help ensure the continued safe and effective operation of air medical services.
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Air medical services transport 400,000 people a year safely.
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