Loss of life years due to unavailable helicopter emergency medical service: a single base study from a rural area of Norway
Background: Despite the potential benefits of physician-staffed Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS), many dispatches to primary HEMS missions in Norway are cancelled before patient encounter. Information is sparse regarding the health consequences when medically indicated HEMS missions are c...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2019-04-01
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| Series: | Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02813432.2019.1608056 |
| _version_ | 1828400727427383296 |
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| author | Erik Zakariassen Øyvind Østerås Dag Ståle Nystøyl Hans Johan Breidablik Eivind Solheim Guttorm Brattebø Vegard S. Ellensen Jana Midelfart Hoff Knut Hordnes Arne Aksnes Jon-Kenneth Heltne Steinar Hunskaar Ragnar Hotvedt |
| author_facet | Erik Zakariassen Øyvind Østerås Dag Ståle Nystøyl Hans Johan Breidablik Eivind Solheim Guttorm Brattebø Vegard S. Ellensen Jana Midelfart Hoff Knut Hordnes Arne Aksnes Jon-Kenneth Heltne Steinar Hunskaar Ragnar Hotvedt |
| author_sort | Erik Zakariassen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Despite the potential benefits of physician-staffed Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS), many dispatches to primary HEMS missions in Norway are cancelled before patient encounter. Information is sparse regarding the health consequences when medically indicated HEMS missions are cancelled and the patients are treated by a GP and ambulance staff only. We aimed to estimate the potential loss of life years for patients in these situations. Method: We included all HEMS requests in the period 2010–2013 from Sogn and Fjordane County that were medically indicated but subsequently cancelled. This provided a selection of patients, with the purpose of studying cancellations independently of the patient’s medical status A multidisciplinary expert panel retrospectively assessed each patient’s potential loss of life years due to the lack of helicopter transport and intervention by a HEMS physician. Results: The study included 184 patients from 176 missions. Because of unavailable HEMS, seven patients (4%) were anticipated to have lost a total of 18 life years. Three patients suffered from myocardial infarction, three from stroke and one from abdominal haemorrhage. The main contribution from HEMS care in these seven cases might have been rapid transport to definitive care. The probability of a patient losing life years when in need of HEMS evacuation was found to be 0.2%. Conclusion: During the four years period seven patients lost 18 life years. Lack of rapid transport seems to be the primary cause of lost life years in this specific geographical area.Key Points Knowledge about to what extent HEMS contributes to an increased survival and a better outcome for patients is limited. Compared to similar studies on life years gained the estimated loss of life years was minor when HEMS evacuation was unavailable in this rural area. The findings indicates that lack of rapid HEMS transport was the primary cause of the estimated loss of life years. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T09:36:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-04fe13965a85404f8bb322f499077449 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0281-3432 1502-7724 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T09:36:14Z |
| publishDate | 2019-04-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care |
| spelling | doaj.art-04fe13965a85404f8bb322f4990774492022-12-22T01:54:10ZengTaylor & Francis GroupScandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care0281-34321502-77242019-04-0137223324110.1080/02813432.2019.16080561608056Loss of life years due to unavailable helicopter emergency medical service: a single base study from a rural area of NorwayErik Zakariassen0Øyvind Østerås1Dag Ståle Nystøyl2Hans Johan Breidablik3Eivind Solheim4Guttorm Brattebø5Vegard S. Ellensen6Jana Midelfart Hoff7Knut Hordnes8Arne Aksnes9Jon-Kenneth Heltne10Steinar Hunskaar11Ragnar Hotvedt12University of BergenHaukeland University HospitalUniversity of BergenDistrict General Hospital of FørdeHaukeland University HospitalHaukeland University HospitalHaukeland University HospitalHaukeland University HospitalCenter for Day Surgery, Hospitalet BetanienThe Emergency and Primary Health Care ServicesHaukeland University HospitalUniversity of BergenUiT The Arctic University of NorwayBackground: Despite the potential benefits of physician-staffed Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS), many dispatches to primary HEMS missions in Norway are cancelled before patient encounter. Information is sparse regarding the health consequences when medically indicated HEMS missions are cancelled and the patients are treated by a GP and ambulance staff only. We aimed to estimate the potential loss of life years for patients in these situations. Method: We included all HEMS requests in the period 2010–2013 from Sogn and Fjordane County that were medically indicated but subsequently cancelled. This provided a selection of patients, with the purpose of studying cancellations independently of the patient’s medical status A multidisciplinary expert panel retrospectively assessed each patient’s potential loss of life years due to the lack of helicopter transport and intervention by a HEMS physician. Results: The study included 184 patients from 176 missions. Because of unavailable HEMS, seven patients (4%) were anticipated to have lost a total of 18 life years. Three patients suffered from myocardial infarction, three from stroke and one from abdominal haemorrhage. The main contribution from HEMS care in these seven cases might have been rapid transport to definitive care. The probability of a patient losing life years when in need of HEMS evacuation was found to be 0.2%. Conclusion: During the four years period seven patients lost 18 life years. Lack of rapid transport seems to be the primary cause of lost life years in this specific geographical area.Key Points Knowledge about to what extent HEMS contributes to an increased survival and a better outcome for patients is limited. Compared to similar studies on life years gained the estimated loss of life years was minor when HEMS evacuation was unavailable in this rural area. The findings indicates that lack of rapid HEMS transport was the primary cause of the estimated loss of life years.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02813432.2019.1608056emergency medicine systemprimary health careair ambulancerural area |
| spellingShingle | Erik Zakariassen Øyvind Østerås Dag Ståle Nystøyl Hans Johan Breidablik Eivind Solheim Guttorm Brattebø Vegard S. Ellensen Jana Midelfart Hoff Knut Hordnes Arne Aksnes Jon-Kenneth Heltne Steinar Hunskaar Ragnar Hotvedt Loss of life years due to unavailable helicopter emergency medical service: a single base study from a rural area of Norway Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care emergency medicine system primary health care air ambulance rural area |
| title | Loss of life years due to unavailable helicopter emergency medical service: a single base study from a rural area of Norway |
| title_full | Loss of life years due to unavailable helicopter emergency medical service: a single base study from a rural area of Norway |
| title_fullStr | Loss of life years due to unavailable helicopter emergency medical service: a single base study from a rural area of Norway |
| title_full_unstemmed | Loss of life years due to unavailable helicopter emergency medical service: a single base study from a rural area of Norway |
| title_short | Loss of life years due to unavailable helicopter emergency medical service: a single base study from a rural area of Norway |
| title_sort | loss of life years due to unavailable helicopter emergency medical service a single base study from a rural area of norway |
| topic | emergency medicine system primary health care air ambulance rural area |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02813432.2019.1608056 |
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