The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) (pronounced ''cames''), is an independent, non-profit agency based in

Sandy Springs, South Carolina Sandy Springs is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 1,002. It is located on U.S. Route 76 between ...

, which audits and accredits fixed-wing, rotary wing, and surface medical transport services worldwide to a set of industry-established criteria. CAMTS has accredited 182 medical transport programs worldwide as of February, 2017.Accredited program list from the CAMTS website

Background

CAMTS first enacted its Accreditation Standards in 1991, which were developed by its member organizations as well as with extensive public comment and input.
The Standards are the core element to the CAMTS program, which declares that the highest priorities for medical transport services companies are "patient care and safety of the transport environment". CAMTS accreditation, once granted, lasts for three years, at which time it can be renewed by being reaudited. Preparation for initial accreditation generally takes from four to six months,
as the process examines all aspects of operations, from management to medical protocols to flight operations.

CAMTS' member organizations

CAMTS is an "organization of organizations"
composed of 22 member organizations, each of which has representation on the Commission's board of directors. The member organizations are: *

Aerospace Medical Association The Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA) is the largest professional organization in the fields of aviation, space, and environmental medicine. The AsMA membership includes aerospace and hyperbaric medical specialists, scientists, flight nurses, ...

* Air Medical Operators Association *Air Medical Physicians Association * Air and Surface Transport Nurses Association *

American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is an American professional association of pediatricians, headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. It maintains its Department of Federal Affairs office in Washington, D.C. Background The Academy was found ...

American Association of Critical Care Nurses American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

American Association of Respiratory Care The American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) is a non profit organization and is the only professional organization supporting Respiratory Care in the United States. In addition to attempting to help lobby for beneficial legislation nati ...

American College of Emergency Physicians The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is a professional organization of emergency medicine physicians in the United States. The organization was founded August 16, 1968, by eight physicians in Lansing, Michigan. ACEP established t ...

American College of Surgeons The American College of Surgeons is an educational association of surgeons created in 1913.American College of Surgeons Online "What is the American College of Surgeons?"/ref> See also *American College of Physicians The American College o ...

*Association of Air Medical Services * Association of Critical Care Transport *

Emergency Nurses Association The Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) is the premier professional organization that represents emergency nursing. Consisting of more than 50,000 members, ENA addresses issues relevant to emergency care, publishes professional guidelines, provides ...

* European HEMS and Air Ambulance Committee * International Association of Flight & Critical Care Paramedics * International Association of Medical Transport Communications Specialists *

National Air Transportation Association The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) is the public policy group that represents the interests of the general aviation business community before the Congress and federal, state and local government agencies. NATA, founded in 1940, rep ...

* National Association of EMS Physicians * National Association of Neonatal Nurses *

National Association of State EMS Officials National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

National EMS Pilots Association National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

* United States Transportation Command

Requirement for accreditation

While in principle CAMTS accreditation is voluntary, a number of government jurisdictions require companies providing medical transportation services to have CAMTS accreditation in order to be licensed to operate. This is an increasing trend as state health services agencies address the issues surrounding the

safety of emergency medical services flights The safety of emergency medical services flights has become a topic of public interest in the United States, with the expansion of emergency medical services aviation operations, such as air ambulance and MEDEVAC, and the increasing frequency of re ...

.Robert Davis, "Reconsidering air ambulance usage", ''USA Today'', July 18, 2005, accessed July 13, 2007
/ref> Some examples are the states of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

,Colorado House Bill 07-1259

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, Michigan and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

.Washington State rule WAC 246-976-320
/ref> According to the rationale used to justify Washington's adopting the accreditation requirements, "Requiring accreditation of air ambulance services provides assurance that the service meets national public safety standards. The accreditation is done by professionals who are qualified to determine air ambulance safety. In addition, compliance with accreditation standards is done on a continual basis by the accrediting organization. Their accreditation standards are periodically revised to reflect the dynamic, changing environment of medical transport with considerable input from all disciplines of the medical profession." Other states require either CAMTS accreditation or a demonstrated equivalent, such as

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, which has adopted CAMTS' Accreditation Standards (Sixth Edition, October 2004) as its own. In Texas and Maryland, an operator not wishing to become CAMTS accredited must submit to an equivalent survey by state auditors who are CAMTS-trained. An exception would be the Maryland State Police, who are not accredited.

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

, Arizona, Missouri, and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

have also adopted CAMTS accreditation standards as their state licensing standards.

Notable accredited programs

* PHI Air Medical * St. Mary's LifeFlight *Air Evac Lifeteam * Air Methods * ARCH Air Medical Service * Boston Children's Hospital Critical Care Transport Team * Calstar * CareFlite *

Flight for Life Flight for Life is a prehospital care service with many bases of operation across the United States. Flight for Life is primarily known for its emergency medical helicopter transport, but also operates a fleet of land vehicles and fixed-wing airc ...

* Lifestar Air Medical Services *

Memorial Hermann Life Flight Memorial Hermann Life Flight is a hospital-based air medical transport service in Houston, Texas. Prior to 2020, Life Flight flew into 12th floor of the John S. Dunn Heli-Stop atop Memorial Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center. In March of 2020, ...

* STAT Medevac * Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society (STARS) * AirMed International * Northwest MedStar * REACH Air Medical * Penn State Hershey Life Lion * LVHN MedEvac *MedCenter Air

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

CAMTS websiteCAMTS Standards, 11th edition
Emergency medical services in the United States Medical and health organizations based in South Carolina