Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) is a growing industry that provides a vital service to transport critically ill or injured patients to healthcare facilities. This growth has come with an increase in rates of HEMS crashes and fatalities. Certain types of events commonly precede HEMS accidents such as continued flight into deteriorating weather conditions, night, and self-induced pressure, to name a few. Given that these causes and contributing factors can be seen time and again within HEMS accidents, the need arises for additional analysis of the human factors that play a role in accidents. This study addresses this need through an examination of human error and contributing factors in HEMS accidents. Data was collected through the review of NTSB accident reports of HEMS accidents. Instances of human error were identified and coded using the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS). This study is a retrospective analysis of HEMS accidents. Analysis of types of errors committed revealed that skill-based errors were most common; however, violations were the only error type significantly associated with fatality. Findings were consistent with the literature in that flight into IMC and nighttime operations are the greatest threats to HEMS operations. Results also indicated similar accident frequencies across trip legs despite varying levels of workload. Additionally, investigation of accidents that happened during an interfacility transfer yielded disproportionate rates of fatality compared to non-transfer flights. These findings provide the basis for data driven interventions that will inform risk mitigation strategies and future safety management practices within HEMS.
","abstract_html":"<p>Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) is a growing industry that provides a vital service to transport critically ill or injured patients to healthcare facilities. This growth has come with an increase in rates of HEMS crashes and fatalities. Certain types of events commonly precede HEMS accidents such as continued flight into deteriorating weather conditions, night, and self-induced pressure, to name a few. Given that these causes and contributing factors can be seen time and again within HEMS accidents, the need arises for additional analysis of the human factors that play a role in accidents. This study addresses this need through an examination of human error and contributing factors in HEMS accidents. Data was collected through the review of NTSB accident reports of HEMS accidents. Instances of human error were identified and coded using the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS). This study is a retrospective analysis of HEMS accidents. Analysis of types of errors committed revealed that skill-based errors were most common; however, violations were the only error type significantly associated with fatality. Findings were consistent with the literature in that flight into IMC and nighttime operations are the greatest threats to HEMS operations. Results also indicated similar accident frequencies across trip legs despite varying levels of workload. Additionally, investigation of accidents that happened during an interfacility transfer yielded disproportionate rates of fatality compared to non-transfer flights. These findings provide the basis for data driven interventions that will inform risk mitigation strategies and future safety management practices within HEMS.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lawton, Paige"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy in Human Factors","degree_level":"Dissertation - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-07-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-07-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:26:16Z","subjects":["Helicopter","Medical","Air Ambulance","Human Error","Human Factors","Human Factors Psychology","Other Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/edt/915","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lawton, Paige"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-08-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy in Human Factors"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Helicopter","Medical","Air Ambulance","Human Error","Human Factors","Human Factors Psychology","Other Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/915"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) is a growing industry that provides a vital service to transport critically ill or injured patients to healthcare facilities. This growth has come with an increase in rates of HEMS crashes and fatalities. Certain types of events commonly precede HEMS accidents such as continued flight into deteriorating weather conditions, night, and self-induced pressure, to name a few. Given that these causes and contributing factors can be seen time and again within HEMS accidents, the need arises for additional analysis of the human factors that play a role in accidents. This study addresses this need through an examination of human error and contributing factors in HEMS accidents. Data was collected through the review of NTSB accident reports of HEMS accidents. Instances of human error were identified and coded using the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS). This study is a retrospective analysis of HEMS accidents. Analysis of types of errors committed revealed that skill-based errors were most common; however, violations were the only error type significantly associated with fatality. Findings were consistent with the literature in that flight into IMC and nighttime operations are the greatest threats to HEMS operations. Results also indicated similar accident frequencies across trip legs despite varying levels of workload. Additionally, investigation of accidents that happened during an interfacility transfer yielded disproportionate rates of fatality compared to non-transfer flights. These findings provide the basis for data driven interventions that will inform risk mitigation strategies and future safety management practices within HEMS.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An Analysis of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services and Human Error Contributors to Accidents"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Lawton, Paige"],"dc:date.available":["2025-08-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) is a growing industry that provides a vital service to transport critically ill or injured patients to healthcare facilities. This growth has come with an increase in rates of HEMS crashes and fatalities. Certain types of events commonly precede HEMS accidents such as continued flight into deteriorating weather conditions, night, and self-induced pressure, to name a few. Given that these causes and contributing factors can be seen time and again within HEMS accidents, the need arises for additional analysis of the human factors that play a role in accidents. This study addresses this need through an examination of human error and contributing factors in HEMS accidents. Data was collected through the review of NTSB accident reports of HEMS accidents. Instances of human error were identified and coded using the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS). This study is a retrospective analysis of HEMS accidents. Analysis of types of errors committed revealed that skill-based errors were most common; however, violations were the only error type significantly associated with fatality. Findings were consistent with the literature in that flight into IMC and nighttime operations are the greatest threats to HEMS operations. Results also indicated similar accident frequencies across trip legs despite varying levels of workload. Additionally, investigation of accidents that happened during an interfacility transfer yielded disproportionate rates of fatality compared to non-transfer flights. These findings provide the basis for data driven interventions that will inform risk mitigation strategies and future safety management practices within HEMS.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/915"],"dc:subject":["Helicopter","Medical","Air Ambulance","Human Error","Human Factors","Human Factors Psychology","Other Psychology"],"dc:title":["An Analysis of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services and Human Error Contributors to Accidents"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy in Human Factors"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:26:16Z"}