Articles: emergency-medical-services.
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Southern medical journal · Nov 1992
Effect of aeromedical aircraft on care of trauma patients: evaluation using the Revised Trauma Score.
Rotor wing aircraft used in transport of the trauma victim have not been subject to objective means of evaluating their contribution to patient care. A retrospective evaluation of a Bell 206 L-1 and an Aerospatiale 365 N-1 using the Revised Trauma Score Triage (RTS) as an indicator of status in 98 patients transported from the scene of injury was conducted. Ground (GT), flight (FT), and total mission (TMT) times, as well as initial RTS, final RTS, and the difference between them (DRTS) were determined for all patients. ⋯ GT, FT, and TMT were significantly lower in patients transported by the 365 N-1. In more severely injured patients (RTS < or = 10), DRTS and final RTS were significantly higher in the 365 N-1; FT was significantly less. The contributions of various aeromedical aircraft to the care of the trauma victim may be assessed using objective indices of patient status.
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Swiss medical weekly · Oct 1992
[The effect of first aid and care times on the clinical course and treatment results in multiple trauma. Initial interim results of an interdisciplinary trauma registry in the St. Gallen district hospital].
To date little is known about the influence of variable rescue (i.e. transportation/preclinical care) and clinical care times on the clinical progress and outcome of patients suffering injuries ranging from average to severe. Having examined this question within the framework of an ongoing study of trauma, we present the first provisional results and compare them with existing documentation. ⋯ The database for the assessment of standard times is still inadequate. For a reliable analysis, a total number of at least 500 patients is necessary (beta error acceptable). Our own data and the meagre results of other studies support the supposition that it is not the absolute time-lapse which has prognostic significance but the qualified medical assistance provided within a critical, individual, but extremely variable time-span. The increased employment of highly qualified emergency staff and a more efficient "triage", in the sense of a clearly directed trauma regionalization, could thus lead to optimization of trauma care.
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To assess the range of ethical conflicts that confront prehospital care providers. ⋯ The data demonstrate a range of ethical conflicts in the prehospital setting and point to areas in which policy needs to be developed. The data also can be used in a prehospital ethics curriculum for paramedics and physicians. Because case sampling was not strictly random, absolute conclusions should not be drawn regarding the frequency of the dilemmas.