Changes in Injury Patterns and Severity in a Helicopter Air-Rescue System Over a 6-Year Period

Abstract

For the HEMS in this study, there has been an increasing number of calls for help from persons involved in outdoor leisure activities. As the number of life-threatening injuries declines, HEMSs more frequently serve as means of rescue rather than as providers of emergency treatment.

Helicopter‐based emergency medical services for a sparsely populated region: A study of 42,500 dispatches

“…Missions include primary and secondary (inter‐hospital) missions for both medical emergencies and trauma, but also search and rescue (SAR), patients with minor injuries in the mountains, and inter‐hospital incubator transports of newborns 3. This role is in contrast to many international HEMS that are limited only to operating during daytime, responding to trauma, or performing inter‐hospital transfers 4, 5, 6. Several HEMS have published their experiences,4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 but comparing such services is challenging 12.…”

UK mountain rescue casualties: 2002-2006

“…However, comparisons with international literature must take account of differing patterns of search and rescue provision. For example, in the European Alps helicopters are used more regularly, and snow sports account for a greater proportion of those rescued 18 19. In Scotland most ski injuries are dealt with by dedicated ski patrols and do not involve MRTs 20.…”

Helicopter Scene Response: Regional Variation in Compliance with Air Medical Triage Guidelines

“…This patient was ultimately found to have distal digital injuries that did not require high-level operative management, but it is not clear that prehospital providers on a mountainside should be expected to differentiate operative from nonoperative hand crush injuries. Furthermore, the utility of HEMS in the alpine setting is well described, 32 but the transport was correctly classified as non-MTC. It is similarly difficult to vigorously criticize HEMS activation for three non-MTC falls, from heights of 12, 20, and 40 feet-potentially impressive mechanisms, although the patients' scene examinations and ultimate hospital courses ultimately confirmed "correctness" of the study-assigned non-MTC status.…”