The impact of a helicopter emergency medical services program on potential morbidity and mortality

Abstract Introduction: The evaluation of the effectiveness of helicopter emergency medical services is currently a major focus of air transport research, and dispatch judgment likely will play a significant role in any research aimed at measuring outcome or impact. Setting: Two rotor-wing programs in Alberta, Canada. Methods: A panel of experts evaluated the effectiveness of a helicopter service in Canada. Four hundred sequential patient records were examined and categorized into four risk levels. Level 1 included patients who required critical intervention. Level 2 included patients in whom a major deterioration of vital signs could be expected. Level 3 patients were those for whom transport by an advanced life support ground unit would have been adequate. Level 4 was strictly for missions in which patient transport by any other means would have been impractical, such as remote locations (these cases were double-rated). Results: Risk level 1 included 98 cases (24.5%); risk level 2, 266 cases (66.5%); risk level 3, 36 cases (9%); and risk level 4, 16 cases, two of which were rated level 1, 11 rated level 2, and three rated level 3. Conclusion: The results indicate that in 91% of the reviewed cases, helicopter transport was appropriate, representing a reasonable and judicious use of a helicopter emergency medical service.