Aborted air medical missions: A 4-year quality review of a Canadian province-wide air medical program

Jill Lawless, John M. Tallon, Dave Petrie

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Introduction: EHS LifeFlight, the air medical transport program for the province of Nova Scotia, is a rotor-wing program with fixed-wing backup. It flies more than 600 missions per year, but a varying, significant number of other requested missions are aborted. The purpose of this study was to examine the reasons for these cancellations and related pertinent descriptive data and evaluate the potential implications for patient care and quality service. Methods: This study is a descriptive, retrospective review of all aborted missions between July 1, 1997, and June 30, 2001. Data source was the EHS LifeFlight computer patient care record database. Results: A total of 2723 air medical requests were received during the study period. Of these, 1846 were completed flight missions (68%) and 876 were aborted missions (32%). Reasons for aborted missions included weather (30%), aircraft not required/not appropriate (27%), aborted by medical control physician (15%), aircraft out on another mission (11%), aircraft down for maintenance (9%), patient died before aircraft arrival (5%), no suitable landing zone (2%), and other (1%). Conclusions: A significant percentage of requested missions are aborted in this program. Reasons vary, but 20% of missions canceled could have been performed with the availability of a second dedicated aircraft. Overall, weather is the number 1 reason for aborting a mission.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)79-82
Number of pages4
JournalAir Medical Journal
Volume24
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2005
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Emergency Medicine
  • Emergency

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