The helicopter emergency medical service and essential related nursing skills

: Nurses play a critical role in Taiwan's helicopter emergency medical service, an essential healthcare response service for residents of outlying islands. The care skillsets required of nurses in special care and urgent care environments are significantly more specialized than those in other professional care environments. This article discusses the development of the civil helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) and elements essential to HEMS nursing care efficacy. These elements can be grouped under the categories of pre-flight preparation, assessment for flight-readiness and in-flight care, decision-making abilities, personal physical characteristics, training and experience. These categories should be referenced to improve the effectiveness of relevant education / training programs, enhance HEMS nurse readiness and effectiveness, and maximize the role of HEMS nurses in the civil helicopter medical service.