This past Monday, March 13, my fundamentals in biomedical sciences (II) class was visited by a senior, Joslyn Upshaw, from the interventions in biomedical sciences course. This course is known to my school as a capstone program. Seniors, who have dedicated many years to the Biomed program, are allowed to choose their own field of study to focus on during this year. Joslyn chose the field of Medical Air Transport. As a part of her course, Joslyn was required to give an outreach presentation related to her field; therefore, she chose to speak to our class.
Josyln began with a presentation with a quick overview of the field. Medical Air Transport is the process by which trauma patients are transported with planes or helicopters to hospitals or intensive units to receive critical care. The field is prevalent in over 170 countries worldwide. In the U.S. alone, over 100 million patients have been transported! The field is incredibly necessary, especially in mass casualty events, car accidents, or in locations where the terrain doesn't have ambulance access. The aging world population has sent the field on a massive rise, with the field making $4.5 Billion a year. Those who pursue this career are varied, some being military, emergency medicine technicians, nurses, physicians, or even merely pilots. All of these people must undergo different specialized training, dependent upon the position they would fill on the plane. There are limitations to this field though. The limitations are weather and the sheer cost of the planes themselves.
As a demonstration for this field, we played mario kart, but with a twist! We had to wear special goggles that only showed the road and the controller on the screen. This simulates pilot training; in this training, pilots wear special googles that only show the controls, not the sky around them! This was a fascinating presentation, as I learned a lot about an unfamiliar field. I had no idea how large this field truly was!
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