How Does Mission Ground Time Impact on Population Coverage of Aeromedical Retrieval Systems?

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Aeromedical Services
• Healthcare Access

Background:

• Aeromedical retrieval is vital for emergency care, but ground time before helicopter dispatch impacts definitive care.
• Mission ground time (MGT) includes pre-flight and on-scene activities, typically 10-30 minutes.
• The effect of MGT duration on population coverage by aeromedical services is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare population coverage for different mission ground time (MGT) durations in a single state.
• To quantify the impact of MGT on access to Level I and Level II Trauma Centers.

Main Methods:

• Calculated population coverage using elliptical isochrones based on helicopter bases and trauma center locations.
• Modeled coverage with varying MGTs (10, 15, 20, 25, 30 minutes) and a 60-minute access time threshold.
• Utilized Microsoft Excel for calculations and ArcGIS for mapping.

Main Results:

• Mission ground time significantly impacts population coverage, with a non-linear effect.
• Decreasing MGT from 30 to 10 minutes increased coverage to Level I Trauma Centers from 61.2% to 84.2%.
• Reducing MGT from 30 to 10 minutes also increased coverage to Level I and II Trauma Centers by 20%.

Conclusions:

• Elliptical isochrones with MGT provide realistic estimates of aeromedical service population coverage.
• Minimizing MGT is crucial for maximizing the proportion of the population with timely access to trauma centers.
• Efforts to reduce MGT should be prioritized to enhance the benefits of aeromedical retrieval systems.