Evidence map›Paper›PMID 19672650›Full record

ArticleWorld journal of surgery2009

Helicopter evacuation of trauma victims in Los Angeles: does it improve survival?

Peep Talving, Pedro G R Teixeira, Galinos Barmparas, Joseph DuBose, Kenji Inaba, Lydia Lam, Demetrios Demetriades

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in World journal of surgery, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. Helicopter emergency medical services for adults with major trauma.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015
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  7. Severe blunt trauma in Finland and Estonia: comparison of two regional trauma repositories.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2020
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Peep TalvingLAC+USC Medical Center, Division of Trauma Surgery and Surgical Critical Care, University of Southern California, 1200 North State Street, IPT, Room C4E100, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA. peep.talving@karolinska.se
Pedro G R Teixeira
Galinos Barmparas
Joseph DuBose
Kenji Inaba
Lydia Lam
Demetrios Demetriades

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the method of transport after injury and survival among trauma patients admitted to a Level 1 trauma facility in Los Angeles, California.

methodsThe trauma registry of LAC+USC Medical Center was reviewed to identify all injured patients evacuated by emergency medical service (EMS) from the injury scene from 1998 to 2007. The study population was divided into those who were airlifted (HEMS) and those who were transported by ground emergency medical service (GEMS) with transportation time that exceeded 30 minutes (GEMS > 30 minutes).

resultsDuring the 10-year study period, 1,836 patients were airlifted (helicopters for emergency medical service (HEMS)) and 1,537 patients were ground transported (GEMS > 30 minutes). HEMS patients suffered more frequently a penetrating injury (19% vs. 11%, p < 0.001), presented more often hypotensive to the emergency department (4% vs. 1%, p < 0.001), had more frequently a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) < or = 8 (9% vs. 3%, p < 0.001) and required more often an intubation at the injury scene (1.6% vs. 0.4%, p < 0.001). However, the transportation time and the total prehospital time were significantly shorter for airlifted patients. After multivariable analysis, the difference in mortality between the two transport modalities was not significant (adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval, 0.72 (0.22, 2.35); p = 0.596).

conclusionsIn a metropolitan Los Angeles trauma system, EMS helicopter transportation of injured patients does not appear to improve overall adjusted survival after injury. There is however a potential benefit for severely injured subgroups of patients due to the shorter prehospital times.

Indexed as

Air AmbulancesAdolescentAdultEmergency Medical ServicesFemaleHumansInjury Severity ScoreLos AngelesMaleMiddle AgedRegistriesSurvival AnalysisTransportation of PatientsTrauma CentersWounds and InjuriesYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID19672650

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.