When do you call? Air medical transport for illness.
When a motorcycle and pickup truck collide, hurling three victims across the roadway, and the closest hospital is 35 minutes away, it is fairly obvious that air medical evacuation is needed. But what if the call is for a patient with "pain," whose breathing is a little labored, whose heart sounds are slightly abnormal and who is just not responding to treatment? The closest hospital--if there's not traffic--is about 25 minutes away. Do you request a helicopter and risk a medically unnecessary call, or do you load the patient and transport him by ground, hoping his condition doesn't deteriorate too rapidly?
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D017732:Air Ambulances / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003657:Decision Making; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D012423:Rural Health; D014187:Transportation of Patients / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States