Improved flight following through continuous quality improvement.

INTRODUCTION

Flight following is a key component of an air medical transport service's safety program. National standards require conscientious adherence to flight following. EastCare monitored its compliance with internal flight-following requirements for three years.

SETTING

EastCare is a single-helicopter, hospital-based air medical transport service located in a rural region of the southeastern United States. It has a full-time staff of flight nurses, pilots and communications specialists.

METHODS

A continuous quality improvement (CQI) process was initiated to delineate specific areas requiring improvement. These areas were discussed at the air medical service's monthly CQI meetings.

RESULTS

In 1989, the communications specialists achieved flight following intervals of < or = 15 minutes in 98% of attempts. In 1990 and 1991, the frequency of flight-following intervals of < or = 15 minutes were 98.8% and 99.6%, respectively. The CQI process pointed out educational requirements, technological problems and other areas for improvement.

CONCLUSION

The use of a structured CQI process for this service directly contributed to consistently strong compliance in the frequency of flight following.