Emergency Air Medical Services in Taiwan: Long Distance Aeromedical Evacuation of Patients from a Remote Island by a Chartered, Fixed-Wing Air Ambulance

Long-distance transoceanic transport of blood using drones has never been reported. This study aimed to prove that blood transportation via drones can meet the rapid demand for blood transfusions anywhere in Japan, including remote islands. We demonstrated the transport of red blood cells (RBCs) packs using a drone over the sea from Sasebo to Arikawa port. Drone operations were conducted visually only at take-off and landing. Cruise flights were conducted via satellite-based remote control from Tokyo. The RBC solutions were transported at 2–6 °C to avoid hemolysis. Hemolysis was assessed visually and by measuring lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels before departure and upon arrival at Tokyo Metropolitan Bokutoh Hospital to evaluate whether RBCs were transfusable. LDH levels of the RBC solutions before and after transport were 57.5 ± 3.1 vs. 64.0 ± 2.9. RBC solutions were transported via air and land from Tokyo to Sasebo and showed no remarkable signs of hemolysis. Remote RBC solution transport by uncrewed helicopters with temperature control is feasible and allows RBC transportation in emergencies involving disrupted land transportation, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Future development of helicopter emergency medical services in Korea

Journal of Korean Medical Association ◽

10.5124/jkma.2020.63.4.199 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 (4) ◽

pp. 199-205

Author(s):

Seok Ran Yeom ◽

Oh Hyun Kim ◽

Kang Hyun Lee

Keyword(s):

Emergency Medical Services ◽

Critically Ill ◽

Future Development ◽

Critically Ill Patients ◽

Medical Services ◽

Helicopter Emergency Medical Services ◽

Air Ambulance ◽

Emergency Medical ◽

The Right ◽

Rendezvous Points

This paper discusses the future development of air ambulance operations in Korea. Helicopter emergency medical services are a useful means of transporting critically ill patients to the right hospital, at the right time. It is an important element of the emergency medical system to treat acute diseases at the scene, or in transit. For more efficient operations of the emergency medical helicopters (air ambulances or the so-called ‘Doctor Helgi’ in Korea), various challenges are faced. These include, the expansion of air ambulance bases, proper placement of rendezvous points (landing point), increase of field transport requests, and the operation of night missions. First, it is necessary to reduce the disparity in the benefits of emergency medical care for critically ill patients through the expansion of helicopter bases. Second, through the advancement of joint operations of the pan-ministerial emergency medical helicopters, the time from dispatch to helicopter take-off should be minimized, and a quality improvement program for air transportation should be carried out. Third, it is necessary to increase the number of insufficient rendezvous points and ensure the safety of the helicopters during takeoff and landing, to activate field transportation. Finally, the safety of patients and medical staff should be secured through the systematic preparation of the air transport system for future night missions. To solve these tasks, an appropriate legal system for helicopter emergency medical service is required. Based on the improved system, it is expected that everyone will enjoy equal rights for health, regardless of the regions.

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The New South Wales Air Ambulance

The Aeronautical Journal ◽

10.1017/s0001924000085432 ◽

1968 ◽

Vol 72 (695) ◽

pp. 956

Author(s):

Nancy-Bird Walton

Keyword(s):

New South ◽

New South Wales ◽

First Year ◽

Long Distance ◽

Air Ambulance ◽

Good Friday ◽

The Road ◽

South Wales ◽

Specialist Treatment ◽

On The Road

The Air Ambulance of New South Wales came into operation on Good Friday 1967. Less than sixteen months later as I write it has carried 2348 patients in 807 flights. Four hundred and eleven of these patients have been emergencies and it is highly probable that most of them would not have survived a long distance road journey. With few exceptions all patients have been sent in by country doctors for specialist treatment in the metropolitan area. Introduced as an Air Arm to the excellent road ambulance service it was intended to avoid the road journeys for distances of more than 175 miles. In the first year it saved that service 932 760 road miles. The time that patients would have spent on the road was 16 201 hours, this was reduced by air to 3 094 hours. It is hardly necessary to add what this means to a sick or injured person. Although deeply unconscious and in a state of shock patients have been transported without their condition deteriorating.

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Nociception testing during fixed-wing ambulance flights. An interventional pilot study on the effects of flight-related environmental changes on the nociception of healthy volunteers

10.1101/639781 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Johannes Prottengeier ◽

Stefan Elsner ◽

Andreas Wehrfritz ◽

Andreas Moritz ◽

Joachim Schmidt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Healthy Volunteers ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Sensory System ◽

Real Life ◽

Systemic Effects ◽

Healthy Individuals ◽

Sensory Testing ◽

Long Distance ◽

Air Ambulance ◽

Systematic Effects

AbstractBackgroundThe effects of environmental changes on the somato-sensory system during long-distance air ambulance flights need to be further investigated. Changes in nociceptive capacity are conceivable in light of previous studies performed under related environmental settings. We used standardized somato-sensory testing to investigate nociception in healthy volunteers during air-ambulance flights.MethodsTwenty-five healthy individuals were submitted to a test compilation analogous to the quantitative sensory testing battery – performed during actual air-ambulance flights. Measurements were paired around the major changes of external factors during take-off/climb and descent/landing. Bland-Altman-Plots were calculated to identify possible systemic effects.ResultsBland-Altman-analyses suggest that the thresholds of stimulus detection and pain as well as above-threshold pain along critical waypoints of travel are not subject to systemic effects but instead demonstrate random variations.ConclusionsWe provide a novel description of a real-life experimental setup and demonstrate the general feasibility of performing somato-sensory testing during ambulance flights. No systematic effects on the nociception of healthy individuals were apparent from our data. Our findings open up the possibility of future investigations into potential effects of ambulance flights on patients suffering acute or chronic pain.

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URGENSI KEBERADAAN PERALATAN HELIKOPTER AMBULANS TENTARA NASIONAL INDONESIA ANGKATAN LAUT (TNI AL) DALAM MENDUKUNG SATUAN TUGAS CORONAVIRUS DISEASE-2019 (SATGAS COVID-19)

Jurnal Pertahanan & Bela Negara ◽

10.33172/jpbh.v11i2.1265 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 15

Author(s):

Arief Sukmono Akbar ◽

Imam Musani ◽

Oktav Bayu D

Keyword(s):

Emergency Medical Services ◽

Medical Services ◽

Helicopter Emergency Medical Services ◽

Air Ambulance ◽

Medical Evacuation ◽

Emergency Medical

Pemerintah melalui Satuan Tugas Penanggulangan Covid-19 melaporkan total kasus Covid-19 di Indonesia hingga 16 Juli 2021, mencapai 2.780.803 orang sejak kasus pertama diumumkan. TNI Angkatan Laut (TNI-AL) selain melaksanakan tugas pertahanan juga membantu Satgas penanggulangan Covid-19 serta operasi kemanusiaan lainnya. Pelaksanaan tugas tersebut dilaksanakan oleh Pusat Penerbangan TNI AL (Puspenerbal). TNI Angkatan Laut belum pernah mengoperasikan Helicopter Air Ambulance (HAA) yang memiliki kemampuan Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS). Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan tempat penelitian di pusat penerbangan TNI Angkatan Laut (Puspenerbal) Juanda Sidoarjo Jawa Timur. Pengolahan data menggunakan model Miles, Huberman dan Saldan dengan tiga langkah yaitu pemadatan data, penyajian data, dan penarikan kesimpulan yang prosesnya dilakukan bersamaan. Pengumpulan data dengan metode menelaah dokumen dan informan. Penggunaan informasi pelaku lapangan dibatasi pada informan yang memiliki pengalaman operasi sebagai penerbang helikopter terkait subyek penelitian. Tujuan dari penelitian untuk memberikan gambaran tentang urgensi keberadaan peralatan helikopter ambulans TNI AL dalam mendukung satuan tugas coronavirus disease-2019. Adapun helikopter yang ditetapkan peneliti berjenis Bell-412 atau peralatan medical evacuation (Medevac portable) yang bisa dipasang pada helikopter jenis Bell-412 TNI AL. Temuan atau kebaharuan dari penelitian ini adalah dengan adanya helikopter Medevac TNI AL ini dapat melakukan tindakan penyelamatan darurat mengevakuasi korban ke RS terapung/KRI BRS milik TNI AL atau RSAL terdekat. Helikopter AL dipilih karena hanya penerbang helikopter TNI AL yang terlatih yang mendapatkan rekomendasi landing/mendarat di geladak heli KRI BRS TNI AL. Kesimpulan bahwa helikopter jenis Bell-412 sebagai ambulans udara dan peralatan Medevac portable-nya sangat dibutuhkan dalam membantu satgas covid-19 dan operasi kemanusiaan lainnya.

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Injury Surveillance and Evaluation of Medical Services Utilized During the 2016 Track and Field Olympic Trials

Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine ◽

10.1177/2325967118816300 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (12) ◽

pp. 232596711881630 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

John Paul Bigouette ◽

Erin C. Owen ◽

Jonathan Greenleaf ◽

Stanley L. James ◽

Nicholas L. Strasser

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Policy Development ◽

Service Providers ◽

The United States ◽

Support Staff ◽

Injury Surveillance ◽

Track And Field ◽

Medical Services ◽

Event Type ◽

Long Distance

Background: Injury surveillance systems have been implemented at world championships, yet no previous work has determined the burden of injuries during the United States Track and Field Olympic Trials. Additionally, the type of medical service providers utilized throughout the meet has not been reported, leaving it unclear whether optimal staffing needs are being met. Purpose: To describe the incidence of injuries presenting to the medical team at the 2016 US Track and Field Olympic Trials (Eugene, Oregon) by event type and competitor demographics. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: A retrospective review was performed of all documented injuries and treatments recorded from June 28 through July 10, 2016. Descriptive statistics and the prevalence of newly incurred injuries were calculated for registered athletes and nonathlete (ie, support) staff. The incidence of acute injuries was analyzed for registered athletes, as stratified by athlete sex and event type. Results: A total of 514 individuals were seen during the trials: 89% were athletes and 11% were supporting staff. Physicians treated 71 injuries and 14 illnesses. Of diagnosed injuries, 85% (n = 60) occurred among athletes, with hamstring strains (16.7%, n = 10) being the most prevalent. A mean of 124 medical services (median, 137; interquartile range, 65.5-179.5) were provided each day of the trials. Among medical services, 41.8% were attributed to massage therapists for athletes, while chiropractic services were the most utilized service (47.1%) by the support staff. There was an overall incidence of 59.7 injuries per 1000 registered athletes, with jumpers (109.4 per 1000) and long-distance athletes (90.4 per 1000) being the most commonly seen athletes. Conclusion: Throughout the trials, athletes participating in jumping and long-distance events were the most commonly seen by physicians, creating the potential need for an increase in staffing of physicians during meet periods when these events occur. The provided medical services appeared to follow the number of athletes competing during the trials and the need for recovery treatments after competition. Findings from this study should inform future strategy for staffing and policy development at Olympic Trials and other elite-level track and field events in the United States.

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Application of telemedicine in the COVID-19 epidemic: An analysis of Gansu Province in China

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0249872 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (8) ◽

pp. e0249872

Author(s):

Yan Wang ◽

Jie Yang ◽

Huijuan Ma ◽

Xinchun Dong ◽

Guangmei Xie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Distance Education ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Practical Experience ◽

Gansu Province ◽

Medical Services ◽

Remote Consultation ◽

Long Distance ◽

Medical Standards ◽

Question And Answer ◽

Imported Cases

This paper analyzes the application of various telemedicine services in Gansu Province, China during the COVID-19 epidemic, and summarizes the experiences with these services. In addition, the satisfaction levels of patients and doctors with the application of telemedicine in COVID-19 were investigated, the deficiencies of telemedicine in Gansu were determined, and recommendations for modification were proposed. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has broken out in China, and Gansu Province in Northwest of China has not been spared. To date, there are 91 local COVID-19 cases and 42 imported cases. 109 hospitals were selected as designated hospitals during the COVID-19 outbreak, and most of them were secondary hospitals. However, it was unsatisfactory that the ability of medical services is relatively low in most of secondary hospitals and primary hospitals. Therefore, we helped the secondary hospitals cope with COVID-19 by means of remote consultation, long-distance education, telemedicine question and answer (Q&A). Our practical experience shows that telemedicine can be widely used during the COVID-19 epidemic, especially in developing countries and areas with lagging medical standards.

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Aeromedical evacuation in Bosnia

Journal of The Royal Naval Medical Service ◽

10.1136/jrnms-83-8 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 83 (1) ◽

pp. 8-13

Author(s):

A K Dashfield ◽

H R Smith ◽

P C Young

Keyword(s):

Rural Area ◽

Secondary Care ◽

Care Facility ◽

Rural Setting ◽

Trauma Patients ◽

Air Ambulance ◽

Aeromedical Evacuation ◽

National Division ◽

Care Facilities

The objective of this study was to assess the value of aeromedical evacuation when compared to road ambulance transportation in predominantly trauma patients in a rural area. Uniquely, trauma was the most common presenting condition (75%), di stances to secondary care facilities were long and road routes were poor with a risk of being mined. Data were coll ected of all Briti sh aeromedical flights in Multi-National Division Southwest, Bosnia-Herzegovina, over a six-month period, and benefit to the patient was assessed by a panel of experts when compared to calcul ated road ambulance evacuation. Sixty-nine patients were evacuated by air on 57 fli ghts and transported to a secondary care facility for further management. The panel of experts found that only 15 of the 69 patients (22%) had benefited from aeromedical evacuation. This study again shows the low benefit to the patient from indiscriminate use of aeromedical evacuation, despite the air ambulance being operated in apparently ideal conditi ons of a high percentage of trauma, a rural setting and poor road communications. Crew safety and the high costs further highlight the need to devise a system that can screen out unnecessary flights and identify those patients who would benefit most.

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Preparation for Long-Distance Aeromedical Evacuation

Aeromedical Evacuation ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-15903-0_6 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 77-91

Author(s):

Warren C. Dorlac ◽

Phillip E. Mason ◽

Gina R. Dorlac

Keyword(s):

Long Distance ◽

Aeromedical Evacuation

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