Recruitment top tips

Working environment

According to Lisa Smalls, Human Resources Partner at Bristow in Aberdeen, the right environment will attract and retain the right people. “We need potential recruits and existing colleagues to know that Bristow is genuinely dedicated to its missions and its people. Our UK cadet and apprenticeship programs are good examples. These courses, which create pilots, engineers and winch paramedics, demonstrate our commitment to the future. In turn they bring people with remarkable drive, enthusiasm, skills, and passion to our business,” said Smalls. “It is a winning combination and most recruits who pass through these programs stay with us for years – with many rising to senior leadership positions.”

Air Methods in the USA is working to engage with candidates earlier in their education or career in order to stimulate their interest in the air medical industry and, particularly, Air Methods itself. “This requires a lot of creativity in how we meet and attract candidates who may not yet meet our requirements but have a desire to pursue careers in the air medical industry. We work to help candidates complete the ‘last mile’ of requirements, whether it is flight hours, licensure, etc,” said Paul Williams, Vice President of Talent Acquisition at Air Methods.

In the domain of flight operations, the pilot network is very important for finding new employees, observes Sven Klitzschmüller, Head of the Personnel Department at DRF Luftrettung in Germany. “In addition, as an operator we have a good reputation in the industry – both among pilots and in the ground-based rescue service. We stand for professionalism, good teamwork and high-quality standards. We also meet these quality standards with professional recruiting and a comprehensive onboarding process,” remarked Klitzschmüller. “We offer our employees fulfilling work in a friendly team with state-of-the-art rescue equipment at a successful and independent rescue organization. We offer modern workplaces with a wide variety of exciting tasks.”

Indeed, to attract the best employees, word of mouth is an effective tactic, according to Smalls: “After all, there is not much that people trust more than a personal endorsement.” She continued: “Of course, we also use digital marketing and advertising, but every approach depends on us being completely authentic and offering the right things for these specialist teams, and specifically professional environments, likeminded people, career development and personal progression.”

For DRF Luftrettung, finding and retaining the right talent is a matter of creating a professional environment in which further training is just as important as healthcare and the possibility of open communication. “The personal satisfaction and professional development of our employees are important to us. We attach great importance to targeted support and the best possible development of our employees, because they are the key to our success,” said Klitzschmüller.

Further training is just as important as healthcare and the possibility of open communication

Seamless collaboration

Whether it is for search and rescue (SAR), helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS), aerial firefighting or airborne law enforcement, the operators need to ensure that the crews onboard the aircraft work seamlessly together. “On a SAR aircraft, all four crewmembers share responsibility for safe operations and this hinges on effective communication. We apply the Bristow core competencies and behaviors as part of our crew resource management (CRM) program to manage threats and errors,” said Smalls. “The non-technical skills revolve around situational awareness, problem solving and decision making; leadership and teamwork; workload management; and, above all, communication. All new recruits take part in a detailed CRM course, and we regularly assess their performance against a range of non-technical criteria, ensuring every team in the air is as effective as it can be.”

To guarantee good teamwork in the often unpredictable day-to-day operations, DRF Luftrettung conducts special training with its crews and it has its own advanced training program. Klitzschmüller explained: “This includes, for example, CRM training and, in the medical field, simulation training in the different regions. We pay particular attention to the high quality of our teaching personnel. Third parties can also benefit from this know-how via the DRF Academy.”

To ensure collaboration onboard aircraft, Air Methods has dedicated orientation and training programs in place. “We train our multidisciplinary teams in an environment that closely replicates the work they will do in the field, but without the risk. To do that, we have invested heavily in flight and clinical simulators and in advanced training centers,” said Williams.

We train our multidisciplinary teams in an environment that closely replicates the work they will do in the field

Previous experience

Experience is critical for air medical and rescue missions to be flown safely and for patients to be delivered to the point of care in the best possible condition, observed Williams: “Because every flight is unique, having pilots who can adapt, assess risk and problem solve is a necessity. While we require 2,000 hours of flight experience, it also has to be the right experience in order to fly with Air Methods.”

For our clinicians, three years of critical care experience is required in addition to the standard licensure. For our mechanics, time on like aircraft is also required in addition to the airframe and powerplant (A&P). All in, our crews rely on their experience for the safety of one another and our patients.”

At Bristow, for some roles, previous experience is an absolute requirement. “For example, all our winch paramedic cadets come to us as qualified paramedics, and a SAR commander must have at least 500 SAR hours as part of his/her overall flight experience. But it is not always all about what one has done, it is also about what one can achieve,” said Smalls. “We are looking for people with a passion for our work and a drive to learn. We can support that drive, e.g. our oil and gas teams who fly regularly can help our SAR crews achieve the required flight experience. Our UK in-house training school in Aberdeen, which boasts full-motion simulators and some of the industry’s most experienced instructors, offers industry-accredited qualifications and is a fantastic resource for everyone, from technical crews to engineers and pilots. We are privileged to be able to support our people to grow and develop experience here as part of our team.”

We support our people to grow and develop experience here as part of our team

DRF Luftrettung also requires a minimum number of flight hours for its pilots. “For helicopter pilots, the requirements are a total flight experience of at least 2,000 flight hours, night flying experience of at least 20 flight hours, and flight experience on the helicopter used,” said Klitzschmüller. “If one wants to work as an emergency paramedic with us, one must have the relevant education and training, around 10 years of professional experience in ground-based rescue services, experience with intensive care transports and the International Trauma Life Support (ITLS) or Prehospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) and European Paediatric Life Support (EPLS) certificates,” said Klitzschmüller.

How to retain new recruits

Air Methods looks for candidates who have a calling beyond their own ambitions. “We seek those who seek to serve their communities through a meaningful career that truly saves lives. The mission is a key component to retention, but so is just culture, i.e. an openness to share and learn from mistakes to promote safety, opportunities for advancement, and having leaders who are focused on the right things,” said Williams.

The need is for people who love being part of, and contributing to, strong, supportive and high-performing teams

Indeed, the SAR business is about teamwork, so the need is for people who love being part of, and contributing to, strong, supportive and high-performing teams. “We also look for people with a real enthusiasm for what we do. Our cadet schemes regularly attract more than 100 applications for each place, so people who demonstrate a genuine passion for the industry, for SAR, for aviation, for emergency response, will always stand out,” said Smalls. “But it is a two-way street. We are looking for recruits with passion and enthusiasm, but they need to know they can rely on Bristow to nurture and support their drive to perform and to grow. I feel privileged that we have the ability to do that across disciplines, across aircraft types, with extensive in-house training capabilities and with some of the most experienced and welcoming teams in the industry.”

DRF Luftrettung places significant emphasis on a high level of training and knowledge and, in doing so, it is also committed to training pilots by itself, as it has been training the first class of prospective professional helicopter pilots since 2022. Klitzschmüller said: “Particularly good opportunities in the field of helicopter pilots are offered to those who also have experience with newer or further technologies or procedures, such as instrument flight rules or with the winch. In general, a team-oriented way of working is important to us. In addition, we consider ourselves to be an innovation driver and we are particularly looking for employees who will pursue this path with us. We offer detailed onboarding and good career development opportunities, as well as fulfilling work.”