No abstract

We have surveyed a cross-section of the HEMS operational community in the UK in order to describe their perceptions of safety and risk within their professional life. Two-thirds of respondents believed that HEMS operations were inherently safe. Those who did not seemed to be influenced by personal experience of a crash or serious incident. We support increased operational training for clinical crewmembers, an increased emphasis on incident reporting and a culture of safety, and careful attention to minimum training and equipment requirements for all HEMS missions.