Articles: emergency-medical-services.
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An arrangement is described in which the general practitioners on duty participate in the ambulance service and the prehospital treatment of acutely ill patients. This arrangement has been followed prospectively for one year and was utilized in 141 cases. ⋯ It is concluded that this arrangement is feasable as a means of improving the prehospital treatment of acutely ill patients but that it should be supplemented by increased efforts in training the population in resuscitation. In addition, it is concluded that the function of the alarm central was not optimal as half of the alarms came via the doctor on duty instead.
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Between 1986 and 1988, 999 patients were treated on the emergency scene, then transported with the rescue-helicopter in the Basle area. 687 were victims of a trauma (70.5%) and 287 patients were suffering from an acute internal medicine disease. We performed in-field therapy on the accident scene itself in 53.9% of all the cases. ⋯ Air rescue by helicopter allows fast transportation of patients and immediate high quality intensive care. The low mortality rate during treatment before transport (2.6%) and during the transport itself (0.3%) shows that early beginning of medical treatment on the accident scene is connected to better survival chances.
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In February of 1989, the AAMS Quality Assurance (QA) Committee surveyed 177 flight programs regarding their QA activities. There was a 58% return rate, with the majority of the respondents being single hospital-based programs. ⋯ The information generated by the survey has been used by the AAMS QA Committee in planning QA seminars, and may also be helpful to individual air medical programs in designing their QA programs, as well as a tool for use in comparing themselves to other programs. Specific areas needing improvement are mentioned and AAMS is challenged to offer leadership and support in these efforts.
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There is no current training or experience that can closely parallel operating in the combat theater. However, the use of a structured and systematic approach to patient care such as Advanced Trauma Life Support would have given those thrust into trauma care a format to build upon.