• John P Benner, Genevieve Brauning, Mike Green, Wendy Caldwell, Matthew P Borloz, and William J Brady.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Virginia Health System, and Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA.
• Air Med. J. 2006 Jul 1; 25 (4): 165-9.

Study ObjectiveTo determine the rate of disagreement in assessment of significant illness or injury between air medical transport team assessment and emergency department (ED) diagnosis in patients transferred from the scene of an incident to the ED.MethodsRetrospective analysis was performed on 84 patients transported by medical flight teams from an accident scene to an ED.ResultsResults show transport team assessment concurred with ED diagnosis 96.7% of the time; most of the differences in assessment were overassessments by the transport team. Assessment differences occurred most often for abdominal injuries and least often for head injuries. Underassessment occurred most often for spinal cord injuries.ConclusionsDespite the numerous difficulties involved in patient assessment, data show that the transport teams accurately evaluated patients in most instances. Disagreements in assessment of injury/illness most often were overassessments.

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