Comparing rural ground and air emergency medical services: a level I trauma center's experience

We sought to compare differences in patients transported by ground and air emergency medical services directly from the scenes of their injuries to a rural level I trauma facility. Variables examined included age, gender, vital signs, Glasgow Coma Scale score, discharge location, length of stay, and survival metrics. Student t tests and odds ratios were used for analysis. Demographics and vital signs differed between trauma patients transported by air versus those transported by ground. Generally, length of stay was longer in air-transported patients, who also had poorer survival metrics with negligible risk of death. Significant differences exist in the markers of physiology such as vital signs, expected survival, and degree of injury.