The Role of a Physician-Staffed Helicopter in Emergency Care of Patients on Isolated Danish Islands
1
Centre of Head and Orthopaedics, Department of Anaesthesia, Rigshospitalet, University Hospital of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
2
Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Søren Mikkelsen
Healthcare 2021, 9(11), 1446; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9111446
Received: 31 August 2021
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Revised: 13 October 2021
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Accepted: 22 October 2021
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Published: 26 October 2021
(This article belongs to the Section Prehospital Care)
Emergency calls may lead to the dispatch of either ground ambulances or helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS). For residents on isolated islands, the HEMS can reduce the time to hospital admission and lead to improved outcomes. This study investigated the emergency care for residents on isolated islands with a focus on the role of a physician-staffed helicopter. The data were obtained from Danish national registries and databases. We included data on emergency calls from isolated islands from the time of emergency call to discharge. We identified 1130 emergency calls from which 775 patients were registered with a hospital admission. Of these, 41% were transported by the HEMS and 36% by a ground ambulance. The median time to admission was 83 min (IQR 66–104) and 90 min (IQR 45–144) for the HEMS and ground ambulance, respectively (p = 0.26). The overall 30-day mortality was 6.2% (95% CI: 4.6–8.1%), and 37% of all the patients were admitted to the hospital with an unspecified diagnosis. The emergency calls from isolated islands led to the dispatch of the HEMS in 41% of the cases. The use of the HEMS did not significantly reduce the time to admission but was used in a greater proportion of patients with an acute cardiac disease (66%) or stroke (67%).
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Keywords:
physician-staffed helicopter; HEMS; air ambulance; emergency care
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MDPI and ACS Style
Herrlin Jensen, A.; Sonne, A.; Rasmussen, L.S. The Role of a Physician-Staffed Helicopter in Emergency Care of Patients on Isolated Danish Islands. Healthcare 2021, 9, 1446. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9111446
AMA Style
Herrlin Jensen A, Sonne A, Rasmussen LS. The Role of a Physician-Staffed Helicopter in Emergency Care of Patients on Isolated Danish Islands. Healthcare. 2021; 9(11):1446. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9111446
Chicago/Turabian StyleHerrlin Jensen, Alice, Asger Sonne, and Lars S. Rasmussen. 2021. "The Role of a Physician-Staffed Helicopter in Emergency Care of Patients on Isolated Danish Islands" Healthcare 9, no. 11: 1446. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9111446
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