ROAR21: Does Direct Helicopter Retrieval Improve Survival for Severely Injured Trauma Patients from Rural Western Australia?

Rural Outback and Remote Paramedic Conference (ROAR) 2021

The Rural Outback and Remote Paramedic Conference is designed specifically for paramedics and allied health professionals working in rural, outback and remote locations.

Presentation: Does Direct Helicopter Retrieval Improve Survival for Severely Injured Trauma Patients from Rural Western Australia?

In rural and remote Western Australia, mortality from major trauma is up to four times higher than mortality rates from major trauma in the capital city, Perth. The objective of this study was to determine whether direct Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) retrieval from an incident scene within the zone 50–250 km of Perth to a tertiary hospital improves survival in severely-injured trauma patients. Retrospective analysis (2006–2015) was undertaken of all WA Trauma Registries and coronial data. A total of 1,374 major trauma patients (Indirect retrieval = 1031, Direct HEMS = 343) met the study inclusion criteria.

Activity: Rural and Remote Trauma – who, where to, how and why?

A motor vehicle crash in a rural setting is used to highlight the clinical decisions that need to be made concerning hospital destination (e.g. major trauma centre), how they should be transported and the rationale

Biography: David Ford

David is a Critical Care Paramedic (CCP) with over 20 years’ experience in Paramedicine including nine years as a CCP on the Western Australian Emergency Rescue Helicopter Service (ERHS). He is the Course Coordinator of the Post Graduate Critical Care Paramedicine program at Edith Cowan University. David has conducted a clinical trial of intranasal fentanyl and is currently researching helicopter retrieval of severely injured trauma patients.