Investigating the Causes and Consequences of Transporting Patients by Air Ambulance to Shiraz Hospitals

 The fastest way to transport patients and the injured to hospital is to use air emergency services. Transporting patients by helicopter provides faster medical services to patients and reduces mortality and disability. This study was conducted to investigate the reasons for transporting patients by air ambulance to hospitals in Shiraz.

 The present study was a descriptive cross-sectional one conducted in 2018. The cases of 107 patients transported by air ambulance in 102 missions out of 219694 from Fars emergency to Shiraz hospitals were investigated using the census method.

 From among all patients transported by air ambulance, 68% were male and 53% lived in urban areas of Fars province. Moreover, 43% of patients were aged between 30 and 60 years old and 99% were taken to hospital. Of these, 50.5% were in the ward, 29% underwent intensive care, 9% underwent surgery, and 4.7% died in the hospital. Accidents and trauma were the most common causes of requests for helicopter transport.

 Continuous monitoring of the reasons for transporting patients by air ambulance is necessary to plan and make interventions, increase public awareness (especially among men) to self-health care and prevent incidents and diseases so as to reduce the number of critically ill patients.