Citation

Carpenter J, Thomas F. Air Med. J. 2013; 32(2): 98-101.

Affiliation

Intermountain Life Flight, Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City, UT. Electronic address: judi.carpenter@imail.org.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.amj.2012.10.012

PMID

23452369

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Few published studies on civilian helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) hoist programs exist. This study provides a demographic analysis of hoist rescue operations performed by the only FAA Part 135 hoist-approved civilian HEMS operator in the United States. METHODS: All persons hoisted between May 29, 2001, and May 28, 2011, were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Over a 10-year period, 212 of 214 victims were hoisted. The most common indications were fall injuries (38%) and being stranded (21%). Victim demographics showed an average age of 35 ± 17years, predominantly male (79%), often associated with trauma (66%), with a majority (68%) of all victims requiring subsequent transport to a hospital by ground ambulance (24%) or flown by Life Flight (44%). Hoists occurred most often in the afternoon (14:07 ± 3:47 hours), during the weekend (53%), in the months of May-September (71%), at an altitude of 7,488 ± 1487 feet, with the seat harness (39%) being the most common mode of victim extraction. Hoist insertion of search and rescue (SAR) personnel occurred infrequently (5%). CONCLUSION: The results from this demographic study on hoist operations can provide important demographic information for HEMS contemplating backcountry hoist operations and programs that interface with SAR agencies.

Language: en