Reporting Helicopter Emergency Medical Services in Major Incidents: A Delphi Study

Sabina Fattah; Anne Siri Johnsen; Stephen J M Sollid; Torben Wisborg; Marius Rehn; HEMS Major Incident Reporting Collaborators; Ákos Sóti; Anatolij Truhlář; Andreas J Krüger; Björn Gunnarsson; Dan Gryth; David Ohlén; Espen Fevang; Geir Arne Sunde; Ivo Breitenmoser; Jouni Kurola; Jouni Nurmi; Knut Fredriksen; Leif Rognås; Peter Temesvari; Søren Mikkelsen; Vidar Magnusson; Wolfgang Voelckel

doi:10.1016/j.amj.2016.08.003

Reporting Helicopter Emergency Medical Services in Major Incidents: A Delphi Study

Air Med J. 2016 Nov-Dec;35(6):348-351. doi: 10.1016/j.amj.2016.08.003. Epub 2016 Oct 22.

Authors

Sabina Fattah¹, Anne Siri Johnsen², Stephen J M Sollid³, Torben Wisborg⁴, Marius Rehn⁵; HEMS Major Incident Reporting Collaborators; Ákos Sóti⁶, Anatolij Truhlář⁷, Andreas J Krüger⁸, Björn Gunnarsson⁹, Dan Gryth¹⁰, David Ohlén¹¹, Espen Fevang⁹, Geir Arne Sunde¹², Ivo Breitenmoser¹³, Jouni Kurola¹⁴, Jouni Nurmi¹⁵, Knut Fredriksen¹⁶, Leif Rognås¹⁷, Peter Temesvari⁶, Søren Mikkelsen¹⁸, Vidar Magnusson¹⁹, Wolfgang Voelckel²⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Research and Development, Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation, Drøbak, Norway; Anaesthesia and Critical Care Research Group, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway. Electronic address: sabina.fattah@gmail.com.
² Department of Research and Development, Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation, Drøbak, Norway; Department of Health Studies, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway; Department of Anaesthesiology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
³ Department of Research and Development, Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation, Drøbak, Norway; Department of Health Studies, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway; Air Ambulance Department, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
⁴ Anaesthesia and Critical Care Research Group, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway; Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Hammerfest Hospital, Hammerfest, Norway; Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Trauma, Division of Emergencies and Critical Care, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
⁵ Department of Research and Development, Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation, Drøbak, Norway; Department of Health Studies, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway; London's Air Ambulance.
⁶ Hungarian Air Ambulance, Hungary and East Anglian Air Ambulance, United Kingdom.
⁷ Emergency Medical Services of the Hradec Kralove Region, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic; Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic.
⁸ Department of Emergency Medicine and Pre-hospital Services, St. Olavs University Hospital Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
⁹ Department of Research, Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation, Drøbak, Norway.
¹⁰ Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden.
¹¹ Airborne Intensive Care, Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden.
¹² Department of Research, Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation, Drøbak, Norway; Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
¹³ Swiss Air-Rescue Rega.
¹⁴ Centre for Prehospital Emergency Care, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.
¹⁵ Emergency Medicine and Services, Helsinki University Hospital and Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland.
¹⁶ Anesthesia and Critical Care Research Group, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway and Division of Emergency Medical Services, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
¹⁷ Danish Air Ambulance.
¹⁸ Mobile Emergency Care Unit, Department of Anaestesiol Int Care Med, Odense University Hospital, Denmark.
¹⁹ Landspitalinn University Hospital, Iceland.
²⁰ ÖAMTC Austrian Air Rescue, Vienna, Austria; Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, AUVA Trauma Center Salzburg, Paracelsus Private Medical University of Salzburg, Austria, Department of Health Studies, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.

PMID: 27894557
DOI: 10.1016/j.amj.2016.08.003

Abstract

Objective: Research on helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) in major incidents is predominately based on case descriptions reported in a heterogeneous fashion. Uniform data reported with a consensus-based template could facilitate the collection, analysis, and exchange of experiences. This type of database presently exists for major incident reporting at www.majorincidentreporting.net. This study aimed to develop a HEMS-specific major incident template.

Methods: This Delphi study included 17 prehospital critical care physicians with current or previous HEMS experience. All participants interacted through e-mail. We asked these experts to define data variables and rank which were most important to report during an immediate prehospital medical response to a major incident. Five rounds were conducted.

Results: In the first round, the experts suggested 98 variables. After 5 rounds, 21 variables were determined by consensus. These variables were formatted in a template with 4 main categories: HEMS background information, the major incident characteristics relevant to HEMS, the HEMS response to the major incident, and the key lessons learned.

Conclusion: Based on opinions from European experts, we established a consensus-based template for reporting on HEMS responses to major incidents. This template will facilitate uniformity in the collection, analysis, and exchange of experience.

MeSH terms

Air Ambulances*
Consensus*
Databases, Factual
Delphi Technique
Emergency Medical Services
Europe
Humans
Physicians
Research Report / standards*