HEMS vs GEMS: by ground or by air, which is the best way to take care of traumatized patients

Take home points:

Speed

Mission Time

• –In case of simultaneous activation HEMS is competitive for distance >10 miles from Trauma Center

• In case of non simultaneous activation HEMS is faster  for distances >45 miles from Trauma Center

On scene time

• –HEMS > GEMS

Severity

• –HEMS patients are generally more severely injured than GEMS patients

Trauma Center Access

• –HEMS transported patients have more chances to be referred to a level I Trauma Center

Crew

• –More time on scene (beyond the golden hour)

• –More procedures performed

• –The accuracy of prehospital documented diagnoses was not increased in HEMS compared to GEMS rescue

Survival 

• –No definitive evidences on HEMS benefits on survival rate

• –Recent literature points on a trend toward an increased chances of survival in some categories of trauma patients transported by HEMS

Tags: emergency medicine, helicopter, HEMS, litterature review, prehospital emergency medicine