Study of multiple rotor-wing flight programs on emergency medical services.
BACKGROUND
Improvements in prehospital care, designation of trauma centers and expeditious transport have significantly reduced trauma deaths. In 1985 Pennsylvania formally introduced trauma-system implementation, including the integration of regional prehospital trauma guidelines. The purpose of this study is to examine the similarities and dissimilarities of advanced life support (ALS) trauma operations in eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, and the impact and integration of multiple flight programs on regional ALS systems.


METHODS
Ground ALS (GALS) operations within Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and air medical operations in Pennsylvania.


METHODS
Site visits and telephone interviews were used to characterize demographic, operational and clinical practice characteristics, including those flights where GALS was on location. Descriptive statistics were used to compare the various programs.


RESULTS
Airway management differed greatly among the respondents. For example, of five air medical services, one did not carry paralytic agents, and one performed oral intubations only after the use of such agents. None of the GALS services used such agents. Procedures that required direct physician orders varied among the flight programs and the GALS services. Trauma triage guidelines following the American College of Surgeons recommendations were modified by all GALS services.


CONCLUSIONS
Wide variation in the scope of practice exists among air medical services and GALS services within New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Higgins
R B
RB
Hahnemann University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA.
Kerstein
M D
MD
D017732:Air Ambulances / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006764:Hospitals, Community / Q000458:organization & administration; D007440:Intubation; D009515:New Jersey; D010414:Pennsylvania; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D014193:Trauma Centers / Q000458:organization & administration