When a medical transport service submits a Program Information Form (PIF), the work at the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) office truly begins. We complete certain background checks as we prepare for a site visit. We have always checked with emergency medical services (EMS) state offices regarding licensing by the state, formal or informal complaints about the service, involvement with regional or state disaster drills, and involvement on state committees by members of the medical transport service. Several states do not license air medical transport, but they may want to share their comments about interactions between air services and ground EMS services.
Over the past few years, the business part of medical transport has become more complicated; therefore, we have added other resources to check on the overall history and status of a program applying for accreditation. In addition to the state EMS agencies, we also check with the state about incorporation issues. The program's articles of incorporation will designate ownership and include signatures, dates, and officers. At the same time, each state has a listing of corporations in good standing. Some states call them just that; other states issue a subsistence certificate, meaning the corporation is in good standing and has complied with all state regulations.
Another resource to verify the status and safety record of the aviation certificate holder is Aviation Research Group US (ARGUS), an Internet service that provides a 10-year history of aviation companies and rates them according to their safety history. As a member of ARGUS, CAMTS has the capability to access a Charter Evaluation and Qualification System report on individual aviation companies. This instant, comprehensive report provides information on reports from the National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration accident and incident data, pilot experience and historic records with the Federal Aviation Administration, ownership and management of the company, and specific aircraft history.
CAMTS will access a Charter Evaluation and Qualification System report whenever:
•An aviation operator has not been reviewed in the recent past
•An aviation operator undergoes changes that could affect the medical transport environment
•A board member who is presenting to the board requests a report
In addition to the ARGUS report, CAMTS keeps a database on National Transportation Safety Board accident reports and a file on CONCERN reports. Copies of these reports are sent to the board reviewer so that the member has this information while reviewing information in the PIF.
The PIF also asks specific questions about judgments or litigation involving the medical transport service over the previous 5 years. Lawsuits are plentiful, unfortunately, and difficult to track down, but judgments are a matter of public record and can be accessed over the Internet.
The information described above is not essential, but neither is it superfluous to the accreditation process. The medical transport community is so diverse today that we have found all this information to be helpful in understanding the dynamics of a service and improving our internal process of providing a comprehensive review.
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