ArticleBMJ open2020
Mortality and hospitalisation in the Danish Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) population from 2014 to 2018: a national population-based study of HEMS triage.
Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Reported adverse events during out-of-hospital mechanical ventilation and ventilatory support in emergency medical services and critical care transport crews: a systematic review.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Mapping the internationally reported evidence on physician-staffed helicopter transport in Japan: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Article
- Development and internal validation of an algorithm for estimating mortality in patients encountered by physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical services.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2024Observational
- Mortality rates in Norwegian HEMS-a retrospective analysis from Central Norway.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2024Article
- Bibliometric Research on Surgical Scheduling Management from the Perspective of Web of Science.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2024Article
- Helicopter Ambulance Transport to the Emergency Department: Demographic and Clinical Factors Impacting Outcomes in a Turkish Medical Center.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2023Article
- Emergency Air Transport of Patients with Acute Chest Pain in the Adriatic Islands of Croatia: A Four-Year Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Observational
- Characteristics and Demographics of Patients Requiring Emergent Air Medical.Emergency medicine international · 2022Article
- Helicopter emergency medical services missions to islands and the mainland during a 3-year period in Denmark: a population-based study on patient and sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidity, and use of healthcare services.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2021Article
- The Ideal Trauma Transport Modality: Helicopter or Ground Ambulance? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of emergencies, trauma, and shockArticle
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
objectiveTo describe characteristics and outcomes for patients where the Danish Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) either transported the patient to hospital, treated the patient on scene but did not transport the patient or was dispatched but cancelled en route to the patient (aborted mission), and to assess the field triage by comparing these outcomes.
designNational population-based study. SETTING AND
participantsHEMS dispatches are undertaken from the five Danish emergency dispatch medical centres according to national guidelines. The study analysed all primary missions with helicopter take off where the patient was admitted to hospital between 1
main outcome measuresMortality rates, admittance to an intensive care unit (ICU), need of mechanical ventilation and length of hospital stay (LOS).
results6931 patients were admitted to hospital; 3311 patients were air lifted, 164 patients were ground escorted by a HEMS physician, 1421 were assisted on scene by HEMS, but escorted by the ground units and 2035 missions were aborted. The mortality was highest among the airlifted and ground escorted patients, and lowest among the patients in the aborted mission group. Mortality for the airlifted patients increased from 8.2% (95% CI; 7.3 to 9.2) at day 1 to 19.5% (95% CI; 18.2 to 20.9) after 1 year. The airlifted and ground escorted patients were frequently admitted to ICU and subsequently mechanically ventilated and they also had an increased LOS compared with the patients only assisted on scene by HEMS and the patients in the aborted mission group.
conclusionPatients to whom HEMS are dispatched are often critically ill or injured and have a relatively high mortality. The patients airlifted or ground escorted to hospital by HEMS appear more critically ill or injured compared with the assisted patients and the patients in the aborted mission group. The on-scene triage seems appropriate.
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