National Center for Biotechnology Information, popularly referred to as NCBI is a premier American institution that analyzes the credence of claims pertaining to medicine through scientific publications (among other things). NCBI’s online publication wing PubMed has recently published a review about the importance of medical flights. The review about medical flights was also published in Canadian Journal of Surgery. The publication goes on to prove through real-time research and statistical surveys that critical patients are more likely to survive when transported through medical flights.
Underlining the Importance of Medical Flights
The publication states that transport of injured patients through medical flights is important because of the increasing number of patients and the limited number of trauma centers. It also cites inadequate subspecialty coverage in most hospitals that do not have trauma services. The logic here is that medical flights can provide timely medical transportation to patients and get them the right care before it is too late.
The Monitoring of Medical Flights was Extensive
In accordance with the high standards set by researches that are published in NCBI, data of 14,440 patients over a period of 10 years were monitored. These patients were divided by the modes of transport that were chosen. In other words, patients who were transported through medical flights and other means were chosen and outcomes were compared. The severity of injury, mortality and interventions received were considered.
At the end of the extensive study, it was definitively concluded that patients transported through medical flights had a remarkably better shot at survival and required lesser interventions. For instance, people who had suffered penetrative injuries such as stabbing got proper care and facilities on time. This resulted in lesser loss of blood, requiring smaller blood transfusions. Naturally, the complications were also reduced. Fewer patients needed admissions to intensive care units or operating rooms when compared to those transported through other modes of transport.
The data was gathered from Grady Memorial Hospital’s trauma service in Atlanta. The review of medical flights and their role in patient survival was conducted by several doctors belonging to various prestigious medical institutions of Atlanta and Columbus, Georgia.
