Helicopter Transportation of Brazilian Trauma Patients: A Comparison of Times to Care.

The purpose of this study was to analyze helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) transport with secondary land ambulance transfer, comparing landings performed inside and outside the hospital complex to the emergency department. This was a cross-sectional observational study of HEMS transports of trauma patients between 2016 and 2018 in southern Brazil. Patients were attended by the HEMS team at the trauma site or stabilized in hospitals nearby and subsequently referred to trauma centers. In this region, no trauma centers have their own helipads so helicopters land in remote areas close to the hospital, which may be inside or outside the hospital complex. Both landings require ground emergency medical service transport, with off-site landings necessitating ground emergency medical service transport via public access roads to reach the hospital. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and on-site and off-site transport times were compared using a t-test for independent samples. Of 176 transports, 28.5% resulted in on-site landings, whereas 71.5% occurred off-site. The ground transport time when the landing zone was off-site was 5 minutes longer than on-site (P < .001). Off-site landings result in longer transports to the emergency room. The construction of helipads in trauma centers can reduce transport time, in addition to reducing the costs and sequelae of trauma.

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