title: [Thermal injuries in the OEAMTC air rescue service. Epidemiological characteristics of burns/scalds in children and adults].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few data exist on the epidemiological characteristics of thermal injuries in prehospital emergency care, especially in the context of air rescue. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the epidemiology of pediatric and adult thermal injuries in the helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) run by the Austrian Automobile Motorcycle Touring Club (OEAMTC) air rescue service from an almost nationwide sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  All OEAMTC-HEMS rescue missions flown for thermal injuries in 2009 were retrospectively reviewed. Primary (n=88) and secondary missions (n=17) were collated and all primary missions were analyzed in detail.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total 71 out of 16,100 (0.4 %) primary HEMS rescue missions were for patients suffering from burns or scalds (children n=27, adults n=44). The proportion of major burns (burns covering >20 % of the total body surface area) was 40.7 % in children and 54.5 % in adults, 44 (62 %) burn/scald injuries were related to the head/neck, 37 (52.1 %) to the upper limbs and 10 (14.1 %) to the anogenital region. More than half of the victims (63.4%) suffered potentially life-threatening injury.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In HEMS thermal injuries are infrequent but mostly life-threatening. Differences in epidemiological characteristics of pediatric and adult burns/scalds may have important operational, training and public health implications.
authors: Abteilung für Chirurgie, Department für Plastische, Ästhetische und Rekonstruktive Chirurgie, Landeskrankenhaus Wiener Neustadt, Wiener Neustadt, Österreich, selighf@gmail.com.
authors: H F
authors: HF
authors: Selig
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Nagele
authors: D B
authors: DB
authors: Lumenta
authors: W G
authors: WG
authors: Voelckel
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Trimmel
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Hüpfl
authors: L P
authors: LP
authors: Kamolz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D017732:Air Ambulances / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D002056:Burns / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality*; D002648:Child; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D015996:Survival Rate; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices