Vehicle Dynamics Endured by Patients during Emergency Evacuation—Ambulance versus Helicopter

Thierry Serre,Marc Fournier,Claire Naude

doi:10.3390/safety8010004

Abstract

In the event of a road accident, a quick intervention is crucial. The mobile emergency services take care of patients whose condition requires an emergency repatriation to a hospital, by land in an ambulance or by air in a helicopter. The main criteria for choosing the means of transport are the time required for repatriation and the patient’s more or less critical state of health. Do the vehicle dynamic effects endured by the transported patient have an influence on their health condition? Vehicle dynamics data were recorded with a road data recorder for a period of 3 months, under real conditions of patient repatriation to a hospital; 39 trips were recorded by ambulance and 29 trips by helicopter. Significant differences in speed (average 42 versus 202 km/h) and distance travelled (average 23 versus 85 km) were observed. The sustained effects are similar in helicopters and ambulances. The ambulance causes more abrupt variations in longitudinal and transversal directions, whereas the helicopter has more variations in vertical direction. The vibration level in helicopters is higher than in ambulances. These results can be considered as a first reference baseline for establishing a characterization of transported patients’ exposure to vehicle dynamics.

Highlights

IntroductionResponse speed of the rescue services is essential. The quicker the victim is assessed, the quicker the injuries are treated, and the better are the chances of survival [1]
In a road accident, response speed of the rescue services is essential
This study found that land ambulance transfers are characterized by a succession of numerous dynamic peaks, whereas helicopter transfers generate whole-body vibrations and a higher noise, usually with a gradual and predictable onset

Summary

Introduction

Response speed of the rescue services is essential. The quicker the victim is assessed, the quicker the injuries are treated, and the better are the chances of survival [1]. The first phase of the rescue is related to alert, which can be reduced by 40% in urban areas and 50% in rural areas with the new eCall systems [4] The benefits of such a system are mainly based on a faster transmission of essential initial information about the accident, such as the type of accident and the precise location, which allows for a faster arrival of the rescue team at the scene. After the arrival of the emergency services and their assessment of the injuries and possible stabilization of the victim at the scene, the second phase of the intervention consists in transporting the patient or injured person to a hospital as quickly as possible. It is of the utmost importance to choose a means of transport that is fast and adapted to the transportation of people in a deteriorated state of health

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion