A review of the activation triggers and reasons for stand downs of a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS)

Evans, Elizabeth; Hudson, Anthony; McWhirter, Emily; Lyon, Richard

doi:10.1186/1757-7241-22-s1-p5

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 1 publication

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

“…HEMS are a limited and expensive resource. [19][20][21] It is therefore important to ensure that these teams are intelligently dispatched, [22] which may in time also lead to a better understanding of which patients have the greatest likelihood of bene t -these concepts are somewhat inter-dependent. HEMS dispatch was identi ed as a key research priority in 2011, with a call to identify a 'general set of criteria with the highest discriminating potential'.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Nine golden codes: Improving the accuracy of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) dispatch - a retrospective, multi-organisational study in the East of England

Edmunds

Lachowycz

McLachlan

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) are a limited and expensive resource, and should be intelligently tasked. HEMS dispatch was identified as a key research priority in 2011and 2022, with a call to identify a ‘general set of criteria with the highest discriminating potential’. However, there have been no published data analyses in the subsequent decade that specifically address this priority, and this priority has been reaffirmed in 2022. The objective of this study was to define the dispatch criteria available at the time of the initial emergency call with the greatest HEMS utility using a large, regional, multi-organizational dataset in the UK. Methods This retrospective observational study utilized dispatch data from a regional emergency medical service (EMS) and three HEMS organisations in the East of England, 2016-2019. In a logistic regression model, Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System (AMPDS) codes with ≥50 HEMS dispatches in the study period were compared with the remainder to identify codes with high-levels of HEMS patient contact and HEMS-level intervention/drug/diagnostic (HLIDD). The primary outcome was to identify AMPDS codes with a >10% HEMS dispatch rate of all EMS taskings that would result in 10-20 high-utility HEMS dispatches per 24-hour period in the East of England. Data were analysed in R, and are reported as number (percentage); significance was p<0.05. Results There were n=25,491 HEMS dispatches (6.4k per year), of which n=23,030 (90.3%) had an associated AMPDS code. n=13,778 (59.8%) of HEMS dispatches resulted in patient contact, and n=8437 (36.6%) had an HLIDD. 43 AMPDS codes had significantly greater rates of patient contact and/or HLIDD compared to the reference group. In an exploratory analysis, a cut-off of ≥70% patient contact rate and/or ≥70% HLIDD (with a >10% HEMS dispatch of all EMS taskings) resulted in 17 taskings per 24-hour period. This definition derived nine AMPDS codes with high HEMS utility. Conclusion We have identified nine ‘golden’ AMPDS codes, available at the time of initial emergency call, that are associated with high-levels of whole-system and HEMS utility in the East of England. We propose that UK EMS should consider immediate HEMS dispatch to these codes.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nine golden codes: Improving the accuracy of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) dispatch - a retrospective, multi-organisational study in the East of England

Edmunds

Lachowycz

McLachlan

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We observed that night and RRV taskings, compared to day and helicopter respectively, are both associated with lower patient contact and HLIDD rates overall. This effect has been previously described in the UK and Norway [ 19 , 39 ], in contrast to The Netherlands where no day-night effect has been reported [ 28 ]. The lower rates for RRV taskings, even after adjusting for time-of-day remain unexplained, but it may be that standing-down a road vehicle response is perceived to be more acceptable that re-routing a helicopter.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

“…HEMS are a limited and expensive resource [ 19 – 21 ]. It is therefore important to ensure that these teams are intelligently dispatched [ 22 ], which may in time also lead to a better understanding of which patients have the greatest likelihood of benefit—these concepts are somewhat inter-dependent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nine golden codes: improving the accuracy of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) dispatch—a retrospective, multi-organisational study in the East of England

Edmunds

Lachowycz

McLachlan

et al. 2023

Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) are a limited and expensive resource, and should be intelligently tasked. HEMS dispatch was identified as a key research priority in 2011, with a call to identify a ‘general set of criteria with the highest discriminating potential’. However, there have been no published data analyses in the past decade that specifically address this priority, and this priority has been reaffirmed in 2023. The objective of this study was to define the dispatch criteria available at the time of the initial emergency call with the greatest HEMS utility using a large, regional, multi-organizational dataset in the UK. Methods This retrospective observational study utilized dispatch data from a regional emergency medical service (EMS) and three HEMS organisations in the East of England, 2016–2019. In a logistic regression model, Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System (AMPDS) codes with ≥ 50 HEMS dispatches in the study period were compared with the remainder to identify codes with high-levels of HEMS patient contact and HEMS-level intervention/drug/diagnostic (HLIDD). The primary outcome was to identify AMPDS codes with a > 10% HEMS dispatch rate of all EMS taskings that would result in 10–20 high-utility HEMS dispatches per 24-h period in the East of England. Data were analysed in R, and are reported as number (percentage); significance was p < 0.05. Results There were n = 25,491 HEMS dispatches (6400 per year), of which n = 23,030 (90.3%) had an associated AMPDS code. n = 13,778 (59.8%) of HEMS dispatches resulted in patient contact, and n = 8437 (36.6%) had an HLIDD. 43 AMPDS codes had significantly greater rates of patient contact and/or HLIDD compared to the reference group. In an exploratory analysis, a cut-off of ≥ 70% patient contact rate and/or ≥ 70% HLIDD (with a > 10% HEMS dispatch of all EMS taskings) resulted in 17 taskings per 24-h period. This definition derived nine AMPDS codes with high HEMS utility. Conclusion We have identified nine ‘golden’ AMPDS codes, available at the time of initial emergency call, that are associated with high-levels of whole-system and HEMS utility in the East of England. We propose that UK EMS should consider immediate HEMS dispatch to these codes.

show abstract

A Spatial Analysis of Incident Location and Prehospital Mortality for Two United Kingdom Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS)

Miller

Delroy-Buelles

Bootland

et al. 2019

Appl. Spatial Analysis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A review of the activation triggers and reasons for stand downs of a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS)

Cited by 3 publications

References 1 publication

Nine golden codes: Improving the accuracy of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) dispatch - a retrospective, multi-organisational study in the East of England

Nine golden codes: Improving the accuracy of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) dispatch - a retrospective, multi-organisational study in the East of England

Nine golden codes: improving the accuracy of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) dispatch—a retrospective, multi-organisational study in the East of England

A Spatial Analysis of Incident Location and Prehospital Mortality for Two United Kingdom Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About