Rural and Remote Intubations in an Australian Air Medical Retrieval Service: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Critically unwell patients in rural and remote areas of Queensland, Australia, often require airway management with rapid sequence intubation before retrieval to a tertiary center. Retrieval Services Queensland coordinate retrievals and support rural hospitals, including via telehealth. This study compared the demographics of patients intubated by a retrieval team including a LifeFlight Retrieval Medicine doctor with those intubated by the local hospital team.

This was a retrospective cohort study of patients intubated in hospitals in Queensland, Australia, requiring subsequent air medical retrieval between January and December 2019. The data collected included the time of day, mission priority, geographic location, diagnosis, and failure/assistance with intubation. Descriptive statistics were complemented by regression analyses.

In 2019, 684 patients were intubated in hospitals in Queensland, Australia, requiring air medical retrieval by a team including a LifeFlight Retrieval Medicine doctor. One hundred thirty-one (19.2%) were intubated by the retrieval team, and 553 (80.8%) were intubated by the hospital team. In the most rural and remote areas, 64 (43.2%) of the patients were intubated by the retrieval team compared with 84 (56.8%) by the hospital team.

A retrieval team is more likely to intubate patients in remote hospitals in Queensland, Australia. Remote hospitals should be given preference for dispatch of the retrieval team for assistance with critical patients.