Effect of an in-flight helicopter environment on the performance of ALS interventions

Abstract

Patients transported by air ambulance are often critically ill and, thus, have a relatively high likelihood of requiring advanced life support (ALS) measures during transport. Despite this fact, the ability of the air medical crew to perform ALS interventions efficiently while in flight has not been investigated. The study was conducted with BO 105 and BK 117 helicopters and a ground transport unit at a university hospital-based air ambulance service. Ten flight nurses were timed performing various ALS tasks while in flight in each aircraft and in the ground ambulance. Mean times for performance of each task in the aircraft and in the ground unit were analyzed using Dunnett's method for analysis of multiple means; alpha was set at 0.01. Times required to perform all ALS tasks were significantly increased in the BO 105 setting compared to the setting of the BK 117 or the ground ambulance (p < 0.01). Times for performance of interventions in the BK 117 did not differ significantly from corresponding times in the ground setting. It appears that the environment of the BO 105 may impose limitations on the timely performance of certain ALS interventions.