Richey and Helicopters

[McSwain, Norman E Jr.]

How about just comparing the "need" of air vs ground, based on the
patient's condition and the comparative difference in time. The time
must be measured in time from the incident to arrival at the hospital
not just the partial time of air vs ground drive/fly times from injury
site to the hospital. 

Example - waiting for the launch and arrival vs just starting out to
drive the distance is a variable that MUST be considered. Most folks
don't include this when they measure transport times.

Norman
 
Norman McSwain MD
Professor, Tulane School of Medicine
Trauma Director, Charity Hospital Trauma Center
norman.mcswain at tulane.edu
504 988 5111

-----Original Message-----
From: trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org
[mailto:trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org] On Behalf Of Robert F. Smith
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 9:39 AM
To: 'Trauma & Critical Care mailing list'
Subject: RE: Richey and Helicopters

Unfortunately there is no
NTSB mandate to investigate ambulance crashes, and there is no uniform
database for these crashes.  This makes it extremely difficult to
compare the risk of air vs. ground.

Dave,

Do you think that is something that is "fixable" if pressure was applied
by
our various august governing bodies?

Rob

--
trauma-list : TRAUMA.ORG
To change your settings or unsubscribe visit:
http://www.trauma.org/index.php?/community/