Air sea rescue, telemedicine style

Historically, requests from shipping in UK coastal waters for emergency medical advice have been handled on an ad hoc basis by various accident and emergency departments on behalf of the Coastguard. A formal contract to provide this service has recently been established with the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland and the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, England. A pre-contract audit showed that the involvement of medical professionals in the evacuation decision improved the quality of triage and intervention. The medical staff at both hospitals received training in giving medical advice and the level of medical knowledge that could reasonably be expected of ships crews. Providing advice to commercial airlines developed from the maritime service. In association with a private company, staff at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary have developed procedures to support cabin crew and medical professionals on board (initial figures suggest that a medical professional is present on about 45% of flights). At present, although there are insufficient data to draw any firm conclusions, it appears that up to two-thirds of diversions could be avoided using this service.