title: Helicopter emergency medical service inTehran, Iran: a descriptive study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study provides descriptive information regarding missions performed by Tehran helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) during a 1-year period.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients transferred by Tehran HEMS between March 2006 and March 2007 were enrolled in this descriptive study. Based on HEMS records, information was gathered on flight time, the number of patients transferred in each flight, and mission outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the 1-year study, a total of 353 patients were transported via 138 helicopter flights to 4 medical care centers in Tehran. The mean flight time, the time from the initial call until the patient was delivered to a medical facility, was 36.56 ± 18.44 minutes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tehran HEMS is still far from attaining optimal values, particularly regarding flight time. More efforts are needed to improve the timing as a component of care and the quality of care provided by this system.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Abbas
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hassani
authors.forename: Reza Shariat
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Moharari
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarvar
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nejati
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Khashayar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017732:Air Ambulances / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000401:Aircraft; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D014187:Transportation of Patients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult