Air medical journal
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Air medical journal · Jan 2021
Observational StudyComparison of Video Versus Direct Laryngoscopy: A Prospective Prehospital Air Medical Services Study.
Videolaryngoscopy (VL) in the prehospital setting remains controversial, with conflicting data on its utility. We compared C-MAC VL (Karl Storz, Tuttlingen, Germany) versus direct laryngoscopy (DL) in the prehospital setting, recording the grade of the glottic view, first pass success (FPS), overall success, and equipment functionality. ⋯ VL improved glottic visualization compared with DL. The FPS and overall intubation success rates were similar to other published prehospital studies using VL. The C-MAC provided reliable, high-quality video despite demanding prehospital conditions.
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Air medical journal · Nov 2020
Helicopter Emergency Medical Services in Trauma Does Not Influence Mortality in South Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa carries a large trauma burden. Helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) have been suggested to reduce prehospital time and mortality. It is not clear whether HEMS infers a mortality benefit over ground transport in South Africa. This study aimed to determine whether HEMS improved 30-day mortality over ground emergency medical services (GEMS). ⋯ In a matched cohort of major trauma patients, HEMS does not seem to improve mortality over GEMS. These results might reflect the South African HEMS dispatch model.
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Air medical journal · Nov 2020
ReviewPrehospital Management of Peripartum Neonatal Complications by Helicopter Emergency Medical Service in the South West of the Netherlands: An Observational Study.
Emergency medical service (EMS) is responsible for prehospital care encompassing all ages, irrespective of injury cause or medical condition, which includes peripartum emergencies. When patients require care more advanced than the level provided by the national EMS protocol, an EMS physician-staffed Dutch helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) may be dispatched. In the Netherlands in 2016, there were 21.434 planned home births guided by midwives alone without further obstetric assistance, accounting for 12.7% of all births that year. However, there are no clear data available thus far regarding neonates requiring emergency care with or without HEMS assistance. This article reviews neonates during our study period who received medical care after birth by HEMS. ⋯ During the study period, 52 neonates required medical assistance by HEMS. The 5 infants who died were all preterm. In this cohort, adequate basic life support was implemented immediately after birth either by the attending midwife, EMS, or HEMS on arrival. This suggests that prehospital first responders know the basic skills of neonatal life support.
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Air medical journal · Sep 2020
Royal Flying Doctor Service Coronavirus Disease 2019 Activity and Surge Modeling in Australia.
There is a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We aimed to describe the characteristics of patients transported by the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 and to investigate the surge capacity of and operational implications for the RFDS in dealing with COVID-19. ⋯ Despite the lack of certainty in the actual level of COVID-19-related demand for RFDS services, modeling demonstrates that the robustness of meeting such demand increases with the number of operational and medically staffed aircraft.