The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) has announced the creation of a new European organization, CAMTS EU.
Headquartered in Europe, CAMTS EU is a standalone nonprofit organization that, like its counterpart in the United States, will offer a voluntary accreditation program for fixed- and rotary-wing air medical operators and ground inter-facility transport services. Following the CAMTS model, it will enlist member organizations, each of which will assign a representative to serve on the CAMTS EU board of directors.
According to CAMTS executive director Eileen Frazer, the creation of CAMTS EU reflects growing interest in CAMTS accreditation outside of the U.S. She noted that CAMTS has already accredited nine international programs, including three in the United Kingdom. CAMTS EU will facilitate the accreditation process for programs in countries subject to European Aviation Safety Agency rules or similar regulatory structures.
“We’re just now setting up all of the policies and procedures,” Frazer said in early November, predicting that the first CAMTS EU board meeting would take place within “the next couple of months.” The president of CAMTS EU is Stefan Becker of the European HEMS and Air Ambulance Committee (EHAC), the trade association for European organizations involved in air medical transport. Becker is well versed in CAMTS’ structure and standards, having served as a board member of the U.S. organization for the past five years.
Initially, CAMTS EU will rely on CAMTS’ 10th edition accreditation standards, which were released earlier this year and which, according to Frazer, have been written “in such a way as to apply more to programs outside the U.S.” However, she said that CAMTS EU will take into account relevant differences in program structures, and in crewmembers’ training and experience. “As we go forward and learn more, we will be using those standards as a base,” she said.
Organizations seeking more details on CAMTS EU can contact Frazer at eileen.frazer@camts.org.
