ArticleScandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine2021
Incidence and challenges of helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) rescue missions with helicopter hoist operations: analysis of 11,228 daytime and nighttime missions in Switzerland.
Article in Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effect of cold environments on technical performance and perceived workload and stress during advanced medical procedures: a randomized controlled simulation study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025Trial
- Effect of oxygen supplementation on cognitive performance among HEMS providers after acute exposure to altitude: the HEMS II randomized clinical trial.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2024Trial
- Impact of helicopter emergency medical services base operating regime (24 h vs. 07:00-20:00) on mission volume and structure in Poland: a cross-sectional-longitudinal analysis with duty-time standardization (10 March-10 August 2025).BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Mental health & resilience in crews of emergency medical service helicopters - load analysis of stressful missions.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Prehospital management of accidental hypothermia: A nationwide survey among Italian helicopter emergency medical services.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025Observational
- Major medical events in patients with acute coronary syndrome during helicopter emergency medical service operations.BMC emergency medicine · 2025Observational
- Spinal cord injury in severely injured patients: results from the Swiss Trauma Registry.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Helicopter hoist operations in German mid-range mountains retrospective analysis of incidence, medical characteristics, and mission tactics.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2024Article
- Characteristics of helicopter hoist operations with intubated patients: a retrospective analysis of a Norwegian physician staffed SAR helicopter service.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2024Article
- Accuracy between prehospital and hospital diagnosis in helicopter emergency medical services and its consequences for trauma care.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2024Article
- The forgotten cohort-lessons learned from prehospital trauma death: a retrospective cohort study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2023Article
- Factors influencing on-scene time in a physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS): a retrospective observational study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2023Observational
- Oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate analgesia in prehospital trauma care: an observational cohort study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2023Observational
- Airway management in a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS): a retrospective observational study of 365 out-of-hospital intubations.BMC emergency medicine · 2022Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveWe aimed to investigate the medical characteristics of helicopter hoist operations (HHO) in HEMS missions.
methodsWe designed a retrospective study evaluating all HHO and other human external cargo (HEC) missions performed by Swiss Air-Rescue (Rega) between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2019.
resultsDuring the study period, 9,963 (88.7 %) HEMS missions with HHO and HEC were conducted during the day, and 1,265 (11.3 %) at night. Of the victims with time-critical injuries (NACA ≥ 4), 21.1 % (n = 400) reached the hospital within 60 min during the day, and 9.1 % (n = 18) at night. Nighttime missions, a trauma diagnosis, intubation on-site, and NACA Score ≥ 4 were independently and highly significantly associated with longer mission times (p < 0.001). The greatest proportion of patients who needed hoist or HEC operations in the course of the HEMS mission during the daytime sustained moderate injuries (NACA 3, n = 3,731, 37.5 %) while practicing recreational activities (n = 5,492, 55.1 %). In daytime HHO missions, the most common medical interventions performed were insertion of a peripheral intravenous access (n = 3,857, 38.7 %) and administration of analgesia (n = 3,121, 31.3 %).
conclusionsNearly 20 % of patients who needed to be evacuated by a hoist were severely injured, and complex and lifesaving medical interventions were necessary before the HHO procedure. Therefore, only adequately trained and experienced medical crew members should accompany HHO missions.
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