Impact of Helicopter Transport and Hospital Level on Mortality of Polytrauma Patients

Abstract

Primary transfer by HEMS into a Level I trauma center reduces mortality markedly. In principle, this benefit can be attributed to superior preclinical therapy, primary admission to a Level I trauma center, or both. However, the identical probability of survival of the AMB-UNI and HEMS-UNI groups in this and comparable studies does not confirm generally better survival rates on account of a more aggressive on-site approach.