Long-Range Rescue Helicopter Missions in the Arctic

Search and rescue helicopters from the Royal Norwegian Air Force conduct ambulance and search and rescue missions in the Barents Sea. The team on-board includes an anesthesiologist and a paramedic. Operations in this area are challenging due to long distances, severe weather conditions, and arctic w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Prehospital and disaster medicine 2004-06, Vol.19 (2), p.158-163
Main Authors: Haagensen, Rolf, Sjøborg, Karl-Åke, Rossing, Anders, Ingilæ, Henry, Markengbakken, Lars, Steen, Peter-Andreas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents - statistics & numerical data
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
air ambulances
Air Ambulances - utilization
air force arctic
Arctic Regions
Climate
Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems
Emergency Medical Technicians
emergency medicine
Fires - statistics & numerical data
Fisheries
fishing
Health technology assessment
helicopters
Humans
Middle Aged
Military Medicine - manpower
Military Medicine - organization & administration
Military Personnel
Norway
Norway - epidemiology
Oceans and Seas
Original Research
Rescue Work - utilization
search and rescue
Ships - statistics & numerical data
Social Responsibility
team
Time Factors
tourism
Weather
Wounds and Injuries - epidemiology
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Summary:Search and rescue helicopters from the Royal Norwegian Air Force conduct ambulance and search and rescue missions in the Barents Sea. The team on-board includes an anesthesiologist and a paramedic. Operations in this area are challenging due to long distances, severe weather conditions, and arctic winter darkness. One-hundred, forty-seven ambulance and 29 search and rescue missions in the Barents Sea during 1994-1999 were studied retrospectively with special emphasis on operative conditions and medical results. Thirty-five percent of the missions were carried out in darkness. The median time from the alarm to first patient contact was 3.3 hours and the median duration of the missions was 7.3 hours. Forty-eight percent of the missions involved ships of foreign origin. Half the patients had acute illnesses, dominated by gastrointestinal and heart diseases. Most of the injuries resulted from industrial accidents with open and closed fractures, amputations, and soft tissue damage. Ninety percent of the patients were hospitalized; 7.5% probably would not have survived without early medical treatment and rapid transportation to a hospital. Using a heavy search and rescue helicopter in the Barents Sea was the right decision in terms of medical gain and operative risk.
ISSN:1049-023X
1945-1938
DOI:10.1017/S1049023X00001679