Maybe our US cousins can enlighten me??!!
Do your EMS crews get a bollicking if a job is turned down? The administrators would obviously say "no, never" - but what is it really like?
In Australia at least, there is NO pressure put to bear on any pilot who rejects a job (not in the organisations I have flown with anyway). That is not to say that Australia is immune from any accidents by any means.
It is sad to think that the almighty dollar drives the US EMS orgainsations. We all tell the younger/less experienced pilots to err on the side of safety and if in doubt - don't go. Are we more experienced pilots somehow immune from the harsh realities of weather, CFIT, wires, etc? Certainly not! Some may think they are more bullet-proof than others.
EMS helicopters are not unlike the charter guys who may be under pressure to accept a flight - whatever that flight may be.
Point in case - the recent unfortunate accident that happened in the Victorian high country recently killing a well known identity, his wife and the pilot.