Initial training in Denver is the bare minimum at best. You are not taught the aircraft you are taught to pass a check ride. They are sending people to the field with less than 1 hour of NVG time actually flying the aircraft. Simulator time is overemphasized. The first time you have to land the aircraft in some unimproved HLZ at night under NVG's should not be with a Med Crew on board while you are trying to pick up a critical patient. I feel like I have 12 bosses. There are way too many layers of middle management. Air Methods claims to be a "data driven" company so you have some type of report or metric you have to complete for everything. The best part is this "data" gets sent to the 12 bosses and nothing ever changes other then they decide they need more reports and more data. I literally spend almost an equal amount of time filling out reports and updating trackers as I do physically flying patients. Example: Why is there a flight time tracker for night vision googles? 20+ years in the military and I never tracked the usage hours on the goggles. All the components are condition , not time change. Who cares ? We literally have manuals that describe how to use our manuals. Middle managers consistently demonstrate poor time management and lack of organizational skills. Union. You are stuck with what the union negotiates for the entire company. Not always bad but there is a large disparity in pay in my area (approx. $40k per year less) between EMS and similarly qualified civilian/ military contract pilots.
