Military assistance to safety and traffic services in El Paso: a retrospective analysis

This study was performed to evaluate the performance of military rotary air medical transport in the El Paso, Texas, region with regard to mortality. A retrospective review of transport and inpatient medical records was undertaken. All trauma patients air transported from January 1, 1996, to February 28, 1998, were included. Patients for whom records were unavailable were excluded. Mean time intervals for prehospital and interhospital transport were calculated. Injury severity and survival data were calculated using Revised Trauma Score, Injury Severity Score, and Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) methodology. Two hundred sixty-seven patients were eligible for analysis (83% of the total). TRISS analysis predicted 241 survivors; the actual number of survivors was 241 (mean = 0.98, z = 0.03) despite the fact that 6 individuals died who were predicted to live and 3 individuals lived who were predicted to die. We conclude that the actual mortality rate of those patients transported by military aeromedical lift equaled that predicted by TRISS methodology.