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Emergency medicine
Protocol
Impact of helicopter emergency medical services in major incidents: systematic literature review
  1. Anne Siri Johnsen1,2,3,
  2. Sabina Fattah1,4,
  3. Stephen J M Sollid1,2,
  4. Marius Rehn1,2,5
  1. 1Department of Research and Development, Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation, Drøbak, Norway
  2. 2Department of Health Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
  3. 3Department of Anaesthesiology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
  4. 4Anaesthesia and Critical Care Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway
  5. 5Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway
  1. Correspondence to Dr Anne Siri Johnsen; anne.siri.johnsen{at}norskluftambulanse.no

Abstract

Introduction Helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) aim to bring highly specialised crews to the major incident for triage, treatment and transport. When the site is difficult to access, HEMS may be the only mode of transportation of both personnel and patients. This systematic review will identify, describe and appraise literature regarding the role of HEMS in medical response to major incidents. We aim to improve knowledge on HEMS role in a major incident and provide a basis for future research.

Methods and analysis A systematic literature review will be conducted with search phrases that combine HEMS and major incidents to identify when and how HEMS have been used. Included literature will be subject to quality appraisal and data extraction.

Ethics No ethical approval is sought because this is a literature review. It will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and the PRISMA guidelines will be followed.

Registration details PROSPERO CRD42013004473

  • Air Ambulances
  • Helicopter Emergency Medical Services
  • Major Incidents
  • Disasters
  • Mass Casualty Incidents

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 3.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003335

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