Helicopter transportation of patients with obstetric emergencies in an urban area

Regionalization of perinatal care has contributed to a decline in perinatal morbidity and mortality in neonates delivered at tertiary centers when compared to neonates delivered and transported to the intensive care nurseries. Transportation of the mother to the perinatal center in an emergency situation must be evaluated critically for neonatal outcome, response time, and cost. In a large metropolitan area in Southern California, a helicopter transport service has been used successfully to move emergency patients from referring hospitals to a perinatal center. This experience was examined with respect to response time, cost, obstetric problems, and newborn outcome in our first 100 patients. The results are indicative that when patient and neonates would benefit from delivery at a perinatal center, helicopter transport, even in an urban area, is highly successful and cost effective.