TESTING AN EMERGENCY AND REGIONAL MEDICAL HELICOPTER TRANSPORT SYSTEM

THE OBJECTIVE WAS TO PLAN THE ORGANIZATION OF A HELICOPTER DELIVERY SYSTEM TO SERVE BOTH EMERGENCY AND REGIONAL MEDICAL NEEDS IN A SPECIFIED SECTION OF WEST VIRGINIA. A COORDINATED PAIR OF SIMULATION MODELS WAS CONSTRUCTED TO DESCRIBE THE OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF A HELICOPTER SYSTEM WHICH WOULD PERFORM A COMBINATION OF THE FOLLOWING FUNCTIONS: (1) THE PROPOSED SYSTEM COULD KEEP HELICOPTER UNITS AVAILABLE FOR THE PROMPT DELIVERY OF MEDICAL AID AND THE SUBSEQUENT EVACUATION OF EMERGENCY CASES IN CRITICAL NEED OF EXTENSIVE TREATMENT; (2) THE SAME NETWORK COULD EFFICIENTLY TRANSPORT MEDICAL TEAMS TO MOBILE CLINIC SITES LOCATED IN REMOTE COMMUNITIES WITH PERIODIC NEEDS FOR PREVENTIVE MEDICAL CARE; AND (3) THE HELICOPTER SYSTEM COULD ALSO ACCELERATE THE FLOW OF PATIENTS AMONG HOSPITALS. THE BASIC HYPOTHESES WAS THAT REGIONAL MEDICAL SERVICES COULD BE INCLUDED IN AN EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORT SYSTEM BY DISPATCHING MOBILE TRAILER UNITS IN COMBINATION WITH MEDICAL TEAMS COMMUTING BY HELICOPTER. THROUGH SUCH AN ARRANGEMENT, THE AVAILABILITY OF MEDICAL RESOURCES FOR RURAL RESIDENTS COULD BE INCREASED. THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO DEPLOY A HELICOPTER TRANSPORT SYSTEM TO HANDLE EMERGENCY MEDICAL FUNCTIONS ALONG WITH ROUTINE TRANSFERS AND REGIONAL MEDICAL SERVICES. /AUTHOR/

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    • Sponsored by Committee on Motorist Services and presented at the 50th Annual Meeting. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
  • Authors:
    • Jordan Jr, Robert F
    • Wegmann, Frederick J
    • Carter, Everett C
  • Publication Date: 1971

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Pagination: pp 46-47
  • Monograph Title: Communications and emergency services
  • Serial:

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00226146
  • Record Type: Publication
  • ISBN: 0309019737
  • Report/Paper Numbers: HS-011 999
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: Mar 7 1972 12:00AM