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 area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Anderson County, South Carolina. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census with a population of 1,002. It is ...

, 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 the largest professional association of pediatricians in the United States. It is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, and maintains an office in Washington, D.C. The AAP has published hundreds of poli ...

* American Association of Critical Care Nurses * American Association of Respiratory Care *

American College of Emergency Physicians The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is a professional organization of emergency medicine physicians in the United States. ACEP publishes the '' Annals of Emergency Medicine and the Journal of the American College of Emergency Physi ...

American College of Surgeons The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is a professional medical association for surgeons and surgical team members, founded in 1913. It claims more than 90,000 members in 144 countries. History The ACS was founded in 1913 as an outgrowth of ...

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

Emergency Nurses Association The Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) is an international professional organization representing emergency nursing. Consisting of nearly 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, re ...

* 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, ce ...

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, c ...

United States Transportation Command The United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) is one of the eleven Unified combatant command, unified commands of the United States Department of Defense. In both times of peace and war, USTRANSCOM's role is to provide the Department of ...

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 ...

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

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

,Colorado House Bill 07-1259

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, Michigan and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

.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 ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, 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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, Arizona, Missouri, and

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

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 Air Methods Corporation is an American privately owned helicopter operator. The air medical division provides emergency medical services to over 100,000 patients every year. It operates in 48 states with air medical as its primary business focus ...

ARCH Air Medical Service {{Refimprove, date=March 2008 ARCH Air Medical Service (ARCH was an initialism for Area Rescue Consortium of Hospitals) is an emergency medical service (EMS) that provides critical care air ambulance service in Missouri, Illinois, and the surround ...

Boston Children's Hospital Critical Care Transport Team Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

* Calstar *

CareFlite CareFlite is a nonprofit ambulance service based in Grand Prairie, Texas, which operates throughout North and Central Texas. CareFlite's original namesake service is helicopter air ambulance, though today it also performs fixed-wing and ground tr ...

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 STAT MedEvac "originally STAT Angel One" is a service of the Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The primary function of STAT MedEvac is to provide emergency medevac and air medical transport of cri ...

Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society The Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service (STARS, formerly Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society) is a Canadian non-profit helicopter air ambulance organization funded by individual donors, service groups, corporate donors and government contributions. ST ...

(STARS) *

AirMed International AirMed International, LLC, based in Birmingham, Alabama, is aa FAA-approved fee-for-service air ambulance airline. AirMed holds accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems ( CAMTS) and the European Aero-medica ...

Northwest MedStar Northwest MedStar was a non-profit medical transport company headquartered in Spokane, Washington with bases in Spokane and the Tri-Cities, Washington area. The company serviced the states of Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana, transporting crit ...

* 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