A CFRN study guide, sized by the outline

Treat the weeks as a template and stretch them if your date is later.

1. Week 1, airway and ventilation: assessment, preparing for induction, post-intubation care and ventilator settings (airway and ventilation).
2. Week 2, perfusion: the four shock states, blood and vasopressors, circulatory support devices in the aircraft (shock and perfusion).
3. Week 3, medical emergencies: neurologic, pulmonary, endocrine, toxic and environmental crises (medical emergencies in transport). Stroke is studied on SCRN hyperacute care, coronary disease on CMC cardiovascular conditions.
4. Week 4, trauma: scene time, destination and packaging (trauma in transport); trauma-center care is on the TCRN pages.
5. Week 5, general principles: gas laws and stressors (flight physiology), then landing zones, radio work and survival (safety and operations).
6. Week 6, special populations and review: obstetric, neonatal, pediatric, geriatric and bariatric patients (special populations in transport), then the practice test and a second pass through the domains you missed.

• Outline dates. The flight outline in force dates from August 31, 2026 and the ground outline from March 30, 2026. Review books and question banks older than that were written to earlier outlines; check every topic list against the flight outline PDF.
• Old pass marks. Pages quoting 108 for the flight exam or 92 for the ground exam predate 2026 (current marks).
• Guideline editions behind the keys. Learn from the current versions: AHA's 2025 resuscitation guidelines (adult, pediatric and neonatal); the 2021 Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines for adults; the 2024 consensus report on hyperglycemic crises in adults (ADA and partner societies); the Brain Trauma Foundation's prehospital guidelines, 3rd edition (2023).
• Flight physiology out of proportion. It is part of a 30-question domain shared with landing zones, communications and survival. Learn the gas laws through their bedside effects rather than as definitions.
• Studying stroke and cardiology twice. Both are on the outline but are taught here only once, on the SCRN and CMC pages linked above.

• The outline itself: The board's content outline is the only authoritative topic list, and the failing score report is organized by its domains.
• ASTNA's transport textbook, Patient Transport: Principles and Practice: confirm you have the current edition before relying on a used copy.
• The guidelines above, read from their publishers (heart.org, sccm.org, diabetesjournals.org, braintrauma.org).

Ground candidates keep weeks 1 and 2, since resuscitation is 40 questions on both outlines. Weeks 3 and 4 keep their size, since injuries and medical conditions carry 65 questions on both outlines; add pulmonary hypertension, thyroid and adrenal disorders and lab abnormalities to week 3. Week 5 narrows to vehicle operations, consent and the stressors of ground transport, and special populations get more time at 23 questions, positioning and securement included. The full outline is on CTRN certification.