Time Course of Hoist Operations by the Search and Rescue Helicopter Service in Southeast Norway

Area of Science:

• Emergency medicine
• Prehospital care
• Aviation rescue

Background:

• Optimal emergency medical services (EMS) dispatch requires accurate prehospital time estimates.
• Hoist rescue time intervals for Norway's Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopter service remain unstudied.
• This study details the SAR service in southeast Norway, including simulated hoist operations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the epidemiologic, operational, and medical aspects of SAR helicopter hoist operations.
• To determine time intervals for simulated hoist rescues.
• To enhance prehospital timeline accuracy for EMS dispatch.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of 148 hoist operations over 5 years, analyzing patient descriptors and medical interventions.
• Conducted a simulation study to measure hoist rescue time intervals.
• Data presented as mean±SD, with National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) scores as modes.

Main Results:

• 148 hoist operations involved 180 patients; 49% were injured, 29% had medical conditions, 22% were evacuees.
• Time to take-off averaged 13±7 minutes. Medical interventions occurred in 49% of operations.
• Simulated rescuer access: 4±2 min; anesthesiologist access: 6±2 min; hoist extrication: 13±2 min.

Conclusions:

• Hoist rescues comprised 10% of SAR operations.
• New data on hoist extrication time intervals can improve SAR helicopter dispatch accuracy.
• Understanding these time intervals is crucial for optimizing prehospital emergency response.