Utilization of the advantages of a physician-staffed rescue helicopter in Austria. A retrospective analysis

作者：Rezar R; Sandner G; Heschl S; Hallmann B; Prause G; Gemes G^*

来源：Notfall & Rettungsmedizin, 2017, 20(6): 495-500.

DOI：10.1007/s10049-017-0312-8

• Helicopter emergency medical services
• Physician-staffed helicopters
• Indications of dispatch
• Diagnostic accuracy
• Quality control

Background. Physician-staffed rescue helicopters are one of the most valuable resources in emergency medicine, so a deliberate dispatch system is of paramount importance. This retrospective study aims to determine how often the use of a helicopter was adequate at a single helicopter base in Austria.
Methods. Retrospective data evaluation, interhospital transfer missions, and missions cancelled en route were excluded. A score comprising the three categories operation site, priority of a rapid transport, and medical treatment on-scene was generated to evaluate whether the utilization of the helicopter compared to a ground-based emergency physician vehicle or mountain rescue was beneficial. For patients admitted to a hospital, the on-scene diagnosis and final diagnosis were compared.
Results. During a one-year time period, a total of 1043 missions were included. In 38% of the cases, no evidence of benefit of the helicopter-deployment was found, while 62% of the helicopter rescue missions were found to result in a comprehensible advantage generated by the helicopter disposition. On-scene diagnoses were found to be correct in 88% of the cases.
Conclusion. We found that more than one third of the missions attended to by a rescue helicopter could have been resolved employing ground-based emergency physician systems or mountain rescue. The reasons for this problem and further measures to ensure procedural and outcome quality in airborne emergency medical systems need to be investigated.