[Thirty-six critical cases of emergency helicopter transferring between hospitals]

To summarize critical cases of emergency helicopter transferring between hospitals and improve the quality and safety of critical care.

The task records of Guangxi Aviation Medical Rescue Training Base from September 2017 to September 2020 were retrieved. The mission acceptance, implementation results, disease spectrum composition, pre-transfer preparation and medical intervention on board were summarized.

(1) General information: a total of 168 patients of helicopter transfer requests were registered, of which 36 patients were transferred, 35 patients were successful, 1 patient had cardiac arrest during the landing phase, and died several hours after continuous resuscitation. Of the 36 patients 30 were males and 6 were females, with median age of 50.5 (29.8, 66.0) years old, the average transfer time was (54.95±17.89) minutes, and the average transfer distance was (205.74±74.68) km. (2) Disease spectrum included 11 cases of stroke (30.55%), 7 cases of trauma (19.45%), 5 cases of severe pneumonia (13.89%), 5 cases of heart and macro-vascular diseases (13.89%), 5 cases of abdominal emergency (13.89%), and 3 other conditions (8.33%). (3) Severity: 31 patients (86.11%) were severe (≥ 15) according to acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score; 19 patients (52.78%) were high-risk emergency transport (≥ 6) according to Hamilton early warning score (HEWS); 6 patients (85.71% of trauma patients) were severe trauma (≥ 16) according to injury severity score (ISS). (4) Preparation before transfer: remote consultation was carried out to evaluate the latest state of the patient's condition, especially the respiratory and circulatory conditions. Relevant items were reviewed and emergency treatments were implemented when necessary. Targeted preparation was made for accidents that might occur during transfer, such as electrocardiogram (94.44%), blood gas analysis (94.44%), brain CT (36.11%) and other auxiliary examinations, endotracheal intubation or tracheotomy (72.22%), deep vein catheterization (91.67%), placement of gastric tube (86.11%) and urinary tube (88.89%), adjustment of sedative (38.89%), vasoactive drugs (58.33%) and drugs for dehydration and lowering intracranial pressure (33.33%), and fixation of fracture (11.11%), etc. (5) On-board medical intervention: cardiac monitoring, blood pressure, respiration and blood oxygen monitoring were carried out in all patients. The parameters of patients using ventilator were adjusted in time (66.67%). The dosage of patients using micropump was adjusted in time (91.67%). Other aspects included the use of sedative and analgesics (38.89%), sputum suction nursing (75.00%), all kinds of catheter nursing (endotracheal intubation/incision nursing of 72.22%, indwelling catheter nursing of 88.89%), and cardiopulmonary resuscitation for patient with cardiac arrest (2.78%).

As the patients transferred by helicopter are mainly those of critically ill at this stage, the requirements for airborne medical equipment and rescue technology are high, and there is an urgent need to establish technical specifications and personnel training standards.