Air Transportation of Critically Ill Patients

Abstract

During the Napoleonic wars, balloon evacuation of the wounded was the first to be made in the history when Paris was being defended. In the USA, casualty helicopters are being used in 20% of cases on evacuating the victims from the accident scene and in 80% during interhospital transportation. Russia also shows an ambiguous approach to employing air medical service — from the wide use of air transportation in the country’s regions that are difficult of access to its almost complete refusal in the regions with the well-developed transportation system. Long-distance transportation of critically ill patients by chartered or commercial planes is the reality of our time. In each region, continuing specialized teams of qualified medical workers who have a good knowledge of altitude pathophysiology and handle the obligatorily certified equipment should be created on the basis of large-scale medical centers.