Department of Helicopter Transport

Main Content

Mississippi Critical Care Paramedic

Mississippi Critical Care Paramedic (MS-CCP) is a new level of care being offered by paramedics who fly with the University Of Mississippi Medical Center’s AirCare Flight Team. In order to start through MS-CCP training the applications to the program must have a minimum of 3 years of experience as a Paramedic, have PHTLS or ITLS, ACLS, PALS, and BLS.

The MS-CCP course is a year-long intensive didactic program which includes training in chest tubes, arterial lines, advanced pharmacology, and ventilator management. The new licensure means they can perform potentially life-saving procedures that nurses or paramedics without the license cannot perform. 

AirCare is Mississippi’s only medical flight team that operates statewide, and the only program that transports adults, children, and infants. It’s also the only program utilizing inline nitric oxide, isolettes for premature and ill infants and the sole program in the state that carries blood products, places arterial lines, chest tubes, and uses ultrasound for pre-hospital FAST exams. This new level of care adds to the services that are uniquely offered by AirCare. 

Supported by a strong clinical background and education, MS-CCP's can give medications that a regular paramedic can not administer. MS-CCP’s can perform advanced procedures that nurses are not allowed to do, such as chest tube placement. 

The state legislature in 2013 allowed the licensing of critical care paramedics. Graduates of the class, must obtain:
  • A minimum of an associate’s degree.
  • Certified by the Mississippi Department of Health’s Bureau of Emergency Medical Services
  • Flight Paramedic Certification (FP-C) or Critical Care Paramedic Certification (CCP-C) through testing with the Board for Critical Care Transport Paramedic Certification (BCCTPC) 
As of May 2017, the overwhelming majority of MS-CCP’s that are practicing at this advanced level are employed by UMMC's Mississippi Center for Emergency Services. The majority of those are flying for AirCare.