Abstract
The South Wales Air ambulance is a charity-funded helicopter service that started functioning on 1 April 2001. There are 10 staff involved in the running of the service, including pilot and paramedics. The territory covered is the South and Mid-Wales regions. The service costs on average £500 per flight and the net cost per year is approximately £750,000.
A retrospective study was performed to evaluate the extent and appropriateness of the air-ambulance call-outs over a 12-month period. The guidelines for call-out are based on medical and non-medical criteria. During this period the helicopter made 315 sorties. On 159 occasions the helicopter was stood down once airborne or following landing at the scene. £80,000 has been spent on non-patient -carrying call-outs. Of the 156 patient-carrying sorties 70% were transferred to Mor-riston Hospital, Swansea. 67% of these patients were categorised as trauma patients. Transfer distance averaged just 15 miles (range 2.6-41.2 miles). The majority of trauma cases were categorised as spinal soft tissue injuries or soft tissue injuries. 52% of patients were discharged by A& E staff without requiring orthopaedic assessment. 59% of trauma transfers were deemed to be inappropriate for helicopter transfer by the senior author.
Our study concludes that the air-ambulance is used inappropriately in at least 50% of the call-outs. The call-out criteria require amending and should place more emphasis on pick-up location rather than the nature of the casualty. It is not used cost effectively and is not always clinically effective.
The abstracts were prepared by Mr Tim Briggs. (Editoral Secretary 2003/4) Correspondence should be addressed to him at Lane Farm, Chapel Lane, Totternhoe, Dunstable, Bedfordshire LU6 2BZ, United Kingdom
