title: Activation intervals for a helicopter emergency medical service in Japan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prehospital time is crucial for treating acute disease; therefore, it is important to activate helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) promptly. We investigated the differences in the activation intervals (the time elapsed from receiving the emergency call to the time of HEMS request) under various conditions to evaluate the current status of HEMS-related prehospital triage in Japan.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively investigated activation intervals under exogenous (trauma, n = 553; intoxication, n = 56; and burns, n = 32) and endogenous conditions (acute coronary syndrome [ACS], n = 47; and stroke, n = 173) between January 31, 2008, and January 31, 2012, by reviewing flight records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Activation intervals were trauma (14.3 ± 11.5 min), intoxication (10.3 ± 8.6 min), burns (15.0 ± 13.1 min), ACS (17.9 ± 14.6 min), and stroke (19.1 ± 13.1 min). One-way analysis of variance showed a significant difference between exogenous and endogenous groups (P < .001). Post-hoc analysis using Tukey's honestly significant difference test showed significant differences between ACS and intoxication (P < .05), stroke and intoxication (P < .001), and stroke and trauma (P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Endogenous conditions had longer activation intervals, which may reflect a lack of mechanisms assessing their severity. We are considering developing new triage criteria for dispatchers.
authors.affiliation: Emergency and Critical Care Medical Center, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan; Emergency and Critical Care Medical Center, Ohta General Hospital Foundation, Ohta Nishinouch Hospital, Koriyama, Japan. Electronic address: windmill@fmu.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.forename: Mariko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Satou
authors.forename: Yukihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ikegami
authors.forename: Jiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Arifumi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsukada
authors.forename: Chiaki
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nemoto
authors.forename: Kazuaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shinohara
authors.forename: Choichiro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tase
mesh_terms: D017732:Air Ambulances; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors