Use of sanitary helicopters in emergency medical care in the conditions of a megapolis

Abstract

Introduction. The provision of emergency medical care and aeromedical evacuation by means of a medical helicopter has been successfully used in the work of the CEMP since 1995. Papers analyzing the efficiency of helicopter emergency medical services vs ground medical transport give mixed results. The safety of medical aviation has been proven, taking into account the low lethality during the flight. At the same time, there are practically no data on the use of a helicopter emergency medical service in a metropolis. Objective. To study the efficiency of helicopter evacuation in a metropolis based on the treatmetn results for patients with the most significant urgent pathology. Materials and methods. The objects of the study were two groups of patients with acute coronary syndrome, acute cerebrovascular accident, traumatic brain injury, bleeding of various origins. The patients of the first group were hospitalized to a medical institution by helicopter, the patients of the comparison group were hospitalized by land transport through the ambulance channel. Results. There is a lower daily and total mortality in the hospital, a lower percentage of disability in 6 months after hospitalization in the first group of patients. Based on the results obtained, it is advisable to use aeromedical evacuation for patients in serious and extremely serious condition (9 or more points on the SOFA scale) and when the patient is more than 30 km from the specialized hospital.