Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) Response in Rural Areas in Poland: Retrospective Study

The aim of the study was to identify the characteristics of missions performed by HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) crews and the analysis of health problems, which are the most common cause of intervention in rural areas in Poland. The study was conducted using a retrospective analysis based on the medical records of patients provided by the HEMS crew, who were present for the emergencies in rural areas in the period from January 2011 to December 2018. The final analysis included 37,085 cases of intervention by HEMS crews, which accounted for 54.91% of all the missions carried out in the study period. The majority (67.4%) of patients rescued were male, and just under a quarter of those rescued were aged between 50–64 years. Injuries (51.04%) and cardiovascular diseases (36.49%) were the main diagnoses found in the study group. Whereas injuries were significantly higher in the male group and patients below 64 years of age, cardiovascular diseases were higher in women and elderly patients (p < 0.001). Moreover, in the group of women myocardial infarction was significantly more frequent (30.95%) than men, while in the group of men head injuries (27.10%), multiple and multi-organ injuries (25.93%), sudden cardiac arrest (14.52%), stroke (12.19%), and epilepsy (4.95%) was significantly higher. Factors that are associated with the most common health problems of rural patients are: gender and age, as well as the seasons of the year and the values of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Revised Trauma Score (RTS), and National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) used to assess the clinical status of patients.

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BURNS IN PRACTICE OF HELICOPTER EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE IN POLAND. RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS

Wiadomości Lekarskie ◽

10.36740/wlek201903133 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 72 (3) ◽

pp. 500-505 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Patryk Rzońca ◽

Piotr Tomaka ◽

Robertn Gałązkowski

Keyword(s):

Retrospective Analysis ◽

Emergency Medical Service ◽

Medical Service ◽

Opioid Analgesics ◽

Final Analysis ◽

Helicopter Emergency Medical Service ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Severe Burns ◽

Emergency Medical ◽

Vital Factor

Introduction: Burns are a huge problem for public health and a challenge for healthcare systems all around the world. They are responsible for 180.000 deaths worldwide each year. In order to ensure high quality treatment and rehabilitation of these patients burn centres are established in many countries. Another vital factor influencing the prognosis of patients with burns is quick transport that in many countries, including Poland is carried out by Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS). The aim: To describe the operations carried out by HEMS with particular stress put on the target medical facility. Materials and methods: The research was conducted with the method of retrospective analysis of operations performed by HEMS crews. All missions from January 2011 to December 2018 were included in the study and 2534 cases were qualified for the final analysis. Results: The study group was predominantly male (72.72%) aged 18 years old and less (36.65%). Nearly two thirds of the patients were transported to hospitals with a burn ward (61.88%). Opioid analgesics as well as crystalloids were the most commonly administered drugs (respectively 68.55% and 64.76%). Statistical analysis showed that HEMS arrival time (20.77 minutes vs 18.60 minutes) and duration of the transport to designated hospital (40.11 minutes vs 19.66 minutes) were significantly higher in the cases of deciding to transport the patient to the hospital with the burns department (p<0.001). Conclusions: Presented results showed that HEMS crews are more often assigned to help ground-based Medical Rescue Teams in case of patients who required treatment in burn centres. Moreover, the time and distance to the hospital with burn ward was significantly longer compared to other healthcare facilities. This confirms that the assigning of HEMS crews for the patients with severe burns was reasonable.

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