Civilian aeromedical retrievals (the Australian experience)

Abstract

### Key points Retrieval medicine is the process by which suitably qualified and trained personnel utilize appropriate equipment and transport platforms to clinically manage and safely transport a patient from one location to another.1 Retrievals can be subclassified into primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary retrieval is the transport of patients to their initial hospital reception. This may be their nearest hospital, or directly to a larger and more distant centre such as a designated trauma centre.2,3 Secondary retrievals move patients from a non-specialized hospital to a higher level of clinical care such as for neurosurgery, interventional cardiology, complex obstetrics, or paediatrics. Tertiary retrievals transport patients between two similarly specialized hospitals. In ‘modified primary retrievals’, an injured or unwell patient has already been taken to an initial health facility that has minimal capacity to increase the level of care to that provided in the prehospital environment. In these circumstances, the retrieval team apply similar practices to a true primary retrieval, albeit in a more controlled clinical environment.3 In Australia, owing to the large land mass and relatively low population density, specialized medical services are clustered mostly in coastal urban centres. Therefore, many referrals are from rural and remote areas where access to specialist medical services is limited.2 Journeys range from a few kilometres and a few minutes in major capital cities to several thousand kilometres over many hours from isolated rural communities. While distance might not be limiting, other access issues such as …