What is a Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN) or Certified Flight Paramedic (FP-C)?

They are the specialized clinicians on PHI Air Medical flights. A CFRN is a critical care nurse and an FP-C is a flight paramedic, both certified for the demands of air medical care.

How much experience do PHI Air Medical flight crews need?

Flight nurses and flight paramedics must have at least three years of critical care experience, often in an ICU or emergency department, before joining PHI Air Medical.

What training and certification do the crews complete?

New hires complete a rigorous 10 to 12 week academy with classroom lectures, hands-on equipment training, clinicals, and simulation, and they obtain their CFRN or FP-C certification within two years. Nurses also hold ACLS, PALS, and TNCC.

What specialized skills do flight nurses and paramedics have?

Flight nurses bring expertise in cardiac, neurological, and stroke care, and flight paramedics excel in pre-hospital response and extrication. Both train in advanced airway management, mechanical ventilation, and the challenges of high-altitude flight.

How does PHI Cares membership relate to this level of care?

The crew's expertise is the care; PHI Cares protects you from the cost. When PHI Air Medical or a cooperative partner flies a member on a medically necessary transport, PHI Cares covers your out-of-pocket cost for that flight, with no copays, no deductibles, and no coinsurance.

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A three-person PHI Air Medical crew, pilot, flight nurse and flight paramedic, standing with the aircraft at the start of a shift.

Featured

November 6, 2026

What Does a Flight Nurse Actually Do? A 24-Hour Shift With a PHI Air Medical Crew

Medically reviewed by James "Trae" Bane, BSN, CFRN, CMTE, Director of Clinical Standards, PHI Air Medical. Last reviewed November 6, 2026. What does a flight nurse actually do? Most people picture the helicopter and stop there. The aircraft is one part of the job. A flight nurse is a critical...

HIGHLIGHTS

Why Yellow is an Excellent Choice for Emergency Medical Helicopters

Understanding the PHI Air Medical Coverage Map

What is a Medevac Flight?

Are Air Ambulance Services Covered by Health Insurance?

November 6, 2026

What Does a Flight Nurse Actually Do? A 24-Hour Shift With a PHI Air Medical Crew

PHI Air Medical helicopter in flight in PHI yellow and black air medical aircraft livery.

October 28, 2026

Why Isn’t the Helicopter Yellow? Understanding Air Medical Aircraft Livery

Among the most common questions we receive from members is a simple one: if a PHI Air Medical aircraft is dispatched for me, will it carry the PHI name? Not always. PHI Air Medical operates 71 membership bases across 14 states. Many of those aircraft carry PHI’s own yellow and...

PHI Air Medical helicopter in flight, the aircraft type that responds across the membership base network.

October 21, 2026

Does Your Membership Work in Another State? The 71-Base PHI Air Medical Network, State by State

Does my membership work in another state? It is one of the most common questions we get, and it usually arrives right before a trip. A family is heading to see relatives two states over, or a retiree is driving south for the winter, and someone wants to know whether...

Bystander performing hands-only CPR chest compressions on an adult.

September 29, 2026

Hands-Only CPR: How Ordinary Bystanders Change Cardiac Arrest Outcomes

Medically reviewed by James "Trae" Bane, BSN, CFRN, CMTE, Director of Clinical Standards, PHI Air Medical. Last reviewed September 29, 2026. Hands-only CPR is the simplest emergency skill most adults can learn. September 29 is World Heart Day, which makes this month a good deadline to finally learn it. The...