• Appl Health Econ Health Policy · Jan 2002

    Cost-benefit analysis of ambulance and rescue helicopters in Norway: reflections on assigning a monetary value to saving a human life.

    • Rune Elvik.
    • Institute of Transport Economics, PO Box 6110, Etterstad, N-0602 Oslo, Norway. Rune.Elvik@toi.no
    • Appl Health Econ Health Policy. 2002 Jan 1; 1 (2): 55-63.

    AbstractThis paper reports the results of a cost-benefit analysis undertaken in 1996 for a public commission set up to plan the future operation of state-owned ambulance and rescue helicopters in Norway. The analysis indicates that the benefits of ambulance missions flown by helicopters exceeds the costs by a factor of almost six. To do this analysis it was necessary to assign a monetary value to human life. Traditionally this has not been done in medicine, and may be widely regarded as inconsistent with medical ethics. The results of the cost-benefit analysis serve as the starting point to a more general discussion surrounding the economic value of activities designed to reduce human mortality. It is concluded that human preferences for the provision of health care or other life-saving interventions are probably too complex to be adequately represented by means of a single monetary value expressing the benefits of life-saving. The task of developing an inclusive framework for a normative approach to priority setting in injury prevention is daunting, and may be insoluble. It is important to assess the extent to which current value-of-life estimates depend on study methods and social context.

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