Ever since the pandemic started to wind down, COVID had a way of creating stress and shortages in the aviation industry. Because of this, more hours are needed to be completed, and especially as it relates to ambulance crews where they are always on the clock.

Not only are they always on the clock, but even with a shortage of workers in the industry itself, the number of available workers in this subsection is a lot smaller in and of itself. Along with the long hours, these workers are feeling a burnout from the past year or two.

For this reason, companies are making more investments in technological developments and tools. In this manner, they hope to address the personnel issues and hope to better support the employees on the job. An industry workforce council that discusses these issues is also in talks as well.

Cameron Curtis, CEO of the Association of Air Medical Services, provided a statement on the situation. “People are burned out, everyone in health care is just exhausted…What you are seeing in the greater healthcare industry is happening everywhere. There’s more wage competition and offers of more benefits, more time off, that sort of thing.”

In regard to the council and developing programs to support these workers as well, Curtis added, “[the program] is focused on working with frontline first responders with regard to substance abuse, suicide prevention, and mental health and wellness.”

The overall health of the industry is still strong, but the pandemic has caused issues with supply chain and staffing along with a greater demand for emergency medical transport. With workers feeling burnout, it could pose as a threat going forward to the industry.