Effect of case identification changes on pre-hospital intubation performance indicators in an Australian helicopter emergency medical service.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

A 45-min interval from injury to intubation has been proposed as a performance indicator for severe trauma patient management. In the Sydney pre-hospital system a previous change in case identification systems was associated with activation delay. We aimed to determine if this also decreased the proportion of patients intubated within this benchmark.

Methods

Retrospective cohort study of patients intubated by a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) over two time periods. Period 1 dispatch was via HEMS crew directly screening the computerised dispatch system, and period 2 was via paramedics in a central control room. Times from emergency call to intubation were compared.

Results

In the HEMS crew screening period 46/58 (79.31%) intubations met the target

SUBMITTER: Garner AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11744421 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature