Abstract
Objective
The time until treatment is a crucial factor for the outcome after medical emergencies.
One way of reducing transportation time is the use of helicopter-based emergency medical
services, but poor weather conditions, commitment to another mission, or technical
problems may limit the availability. In these cases, military search and rescue (SAR)
helicopters can be used. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of SAR
helicopters in the civilian emergency medical system.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective study of SAR mission reports and SAR medical records
collected from the archives of the Royal Danish Air Force for the years 2016 and 2017.
Results
A total of 1,262 mission reports were included with a total of 628 medical records
available in the study period. There were 490 of 1,246 (39.3%) missions involving
patients. Interhospital transfers accounted for 306 of 604 (50.7%) of cases, whereas
island evacuation constituted 110 of 604 (18.2%) cases. The most prevalent suspected
diagnosis was acute coronary syndrome (14.4%). The 30-day survival rate was 87.6%.
Conclusion
The military SAR helicopters were most commonly activated for civilian emergency medical
service mission assistance due to poor weather conditions. The most frequent medical
condition was acute coronary syndrome.
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: April 11, 2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Air Medical Journal Associates. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
