• Jean Turc, Henri-Louis Dupré, Madeleine Beaussac, Sophie Murris, Lionel Koch, Raphael Paris, Julia Di Filippo, Berangère Distinguin, Violaine Muller, and Mathieu Boutonnet.
• Military Teaching Hospital Desgenettes, Intensive Care Unit and Anaesthesiology Department, 69003 Lyon, France; Edouard Herriot Hospital, Intensive Care Unit and Anaesthesiology Department, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69437 Lyon, France. Electronic address: jean.turc@chu-lyon.fr.
• Anaesth Crit Care Pain Med. 2021 Feb 1; 40 (1): 100786.

BackgroundIn early 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak has posed the risk of critical care resources overload in every affected country. Collective interhospital transport of critically ill COVID-19 patients as a way to mitigate the localised pressure from overloaded intensive care units at a national or international level has not been reported yet. The aim of this study was to provide descriptive data about the first six collective aeromedical evacuation (MEDEVAC) of COVID-19 patients performed within Europe.MethodsThis retrospective study included all adult patients transported by the first six collective MEDEVAC missions for COVID-19 patients performed within Europe on the 18th, 21st, 24th, 27th, 31st of March and the 3rd of April 2020.ResultsThirty-six patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) were transported aboard six MEDEVAC missions. The median duration of mechanical ventilation in ICU before transportation was 4 days (3-5.25). The median PaO2/FiO2 ratio obtained before, during the flight and at day 1 after the transport was 180 mmHg (156-202,5), 143 mmHg (118,75-184,75) and 174 mmHg (129,5-205,5), respectively, with no significant difference. The median norepinephrine infusion rate observed before, during the flight and at day 1 after the transport was 0,08 µg/kg-1. min-1 (0,00-0,20), 0,08 (0,00-0,25), and 0,07 (0,03-0,18), respectively, with no significant difference. No life-threatening event was reported.ConclusionCollective aero-MEDEVAC of COVID-19 critically ill patients could provide a reliable solution to help control the burden of the disease at a national or international level.Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

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