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Sun Mar 1 12:41:28 GMT 2009

If all traffic and terrain were the same then you could compare ground to
air.  They are not the same.  There are times when a ground ambulance is 2
hours from a trauma center at 5pm and 20 minutes from that same trauma
center at 5am.  This is near my home in New Jersey.  I'm sure there are
similar spots in New york,  Atlanta, and Los Angeles.

V/R

Forrest Robleto
R House Health & Safety
www.RHouseTraining.com
FRobleto at RhouseTraining.com
609-792-9047

W. C. Fields  - "I never drink water because of the disgusting things that
fish do in it."

On Sun, Mar 1, 2009 at 5:43 AM, Ian Seppelt <seppelt at med.usyd.edu.au> wrote:

> In general terms 200 - 250km is the 'break even' point, where it becomes
> quicker to use a fixed wing despite the added time of secondary ground
> transfers. 50 - 200km is where helicopters tend to be quickest, less than
> 50km it is probably quicker just to drive by road.
>
> Ian Seppelt
>
>
> Greg Benton wrote:
>
>> I am in a regional trauma service in Victoria Australia, 235km from
>> Melbourne. Off the top of my head we do 80 - 90% of our tertiary center
>> transport by fixed wing, 5 - 10% road, and 5 - 10 % rotary.
>>
>> It's a very effective means of moving people and costs way less than
>> rotary
>> wing transfers. Air Ambulance here also use King Airs I believe.
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Greg
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org [mailto:
>> trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org]
>> On Behalf Of Stephen Richey
>> Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 4:13 AM
>> To: Trauma &amp, Critical Care mailing list
>> Subject: Re: NTSB to Issue Helicopter EMS Safety Recommendations
>>
>> I would look at the success (and safety record) of the Royal Flying Doctor
>> Service in Australia.  They actually  have been known to land their
>> fixed-wing aircraft (King Airs if memory suffices) on roads to access
>> patients.
>>
>> My main point with there being a greater utility in the use of fixed wing
>> aircraft in rural areas (and I mean REALLY rural....Wyoming, New Mexico,
>> northern Maine, western Kansas, North Dakota, Alaska, etc....not "Look!
>> There's corn!" rural) is that they are faster over exceedingly long
>> distances (once you get past a couple hundred miles as is the case when
>> your
>> closest trauma center may be Albuquerque, Denver, Salt Lake City, Portland
>> or Anchorage.  In this way, they actually save time.  The secondary point
>> to
>> all of this is the reduction in the number of people unnecessarily flown
>> from scenes.  It is this sort of cowboy tactic that gets crews and
>> patients
>> killed.
>>
>> Interhospital transfer by fixed wing aircraft- if it is taken seriously
>> and
>> implemented properly (which is currently is not in many places because of
>> the reliance on helicopters)- can be an extremely effective means of
>> moving
>> the minority of patients who really need aeromedical evacuation as quick
>> as
>> possible.   Also patient care in the back of a helicopter is not easy and
>> the added "comfort" of a more stable and roomy cabin offered by a fixed
>> wing
>> aircraft allows for advanced procedures to be carried out quicker and
>> easier.
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 12:01 PM, p.bjorn at netzero.net
>> <p.bjorn at netzero.net>wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>> Begs the question: how useful ARE fixed wing services in EMS?  Even in my
>>> experience (rural Maine), the circumstances which at once suggest and
>>> tolerate airplane transfer during the primary treatment phase are
>>> exceedingly rare.  You're adding at least two vehicles and maybe three
>>>
>>>
>> teams
>>
>>
>>> to the transfer process.  That consumes time and shatters continuity.
>>>
>>> Pret
>>>
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>>
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>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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