Advantages and disadvantages of using helicopters for air medical evacuation of victims with traumas (literature review)

Abstract

Relevance. To date, there are no clear criteria and optimal logistic conditions for the use of helicopters for the air medical evacuation of injured victims from the scene and from the emergency zone.Intention. To consider modern scientific views on the problem of using helicopters for air medical evacuation of victims from the place of injury.Methodology. PubMed database and eLIBRARY.ru platform were searched for publications from 2015 to 2020.Results and Discussion. The advantages of air ambulance evacuation by helicopters include shorter prehospital time, delivering victims from hard-to-reach areas directly to high-level trauma centers, and provision of extended prehospital care by highly qualified air medical teams. The use of helicopters is associated with risks to the life of the crew, requires significant financial costs and special equipment, and is limited by the lack of landing sites, weather conditions and at night. The effectiveness of the use of air ambulance helicopters depends on geographic and demographic factors, the level of injuries, the state of the road network in the region, the remoteness of ambulance stations, helicopter bases and trauma centers, the degree of interaction between rescue services and hospital specialists.Conclusion. The evacuation of casualties from the scene of the accident by helicopters of medical aviation can significantly reduce mortality in case of severe injuries.