Air Medical Transport
EMS may request a helicopter when rapid transport is needed for a critically injured patient.
What is air medical transport?
The primary reason helicopters are used for trauma patients.
What is reducing transport time to a trauma center?
Trauma that affects more than one body system.
What is multisystem trauma?
The type of blast injury caused by the explosion’s pressure wave.
What is a primary blast injury?
The three collisions that occur in a car crash.
What are the vehicle collision, body collision, and organ collision?
One key factor in deciding to use a helicopter for transport.
What is the severity of the injury or transport time delay?
A reason why a helicopter might not be used for transport.
What are unsafe weather conditions, no landing zone, or ground transport being just as fast?
The first priority when treating a multisystem trauma patient.
What is controlling severe bleeding?
The organ most commonly injured by the pressure wave of an explosion.
What are the lungs?
Two common injuries in an unrestrained driver after a head-on crash.
What are head trauma and chest injuries?
The minimum recommended safe landing zone size for a medical helicopter.
What is 100 feet by 100 feet?
The term for the first 60 minutes after an injury, when rapid intervention improves survival.
What is the Golden Hour?
The maximum on-scene time for critically injured trauma patients.
What is 10 minutes or less (Platinum 10)?
The type of blast injury that occurs when a patient is struck by flying debris.
What is a secondary blast injury?
The type of crash that has the highest risk of causing an aortic injury.
What is a lateral (T-bone) crash?
The reason a critically injured patient might be taken to a farther hospital instead of the closest one.
What is the need for specialized trauma care?
One factor that could delay a helicopter from taking off or landing at a scene.
What are power lines, trees, or poor visibility?
A complication that makes multisystem trauma more life-threatening than a single injury.
What is shock or organ failure?
A life-threatening consequence of a lung injury from a blast.
What is an air embolism?
The most life-threatening outcome of a rollover crash.
What is ejection from the vehicle?
Two major safety concerns for EMS working around a landing helicopter.
What are rotor blades and loose debris hazards?
A reason why a patient might need to be intubated before a helicopter transport.
What is altitude and vibration making airway management more difficult?
The reason a patient with both brain trauma and internal bleeding requires immediate transport.
What is the risk of rapid deterioration from swelling and blood loss?
Why a ruptured eardrum suggests possible serious internal injuries after a blast.
What is the exposure to high pressure, which could mean lung or internal organ damage?
A type of brain injury caused by rapid acceleration and deceleration during a crash.
What is a coup-contrecoup injury?