Emergency Care Provided by the Israeli Military Airborne Combat Evacuation Unit during Helicopter Winch Rescue Operations. 2021

Ariel Guinzburg, and Danny Epstein, and Jonathan Cohen, and Shai Kiso, and Eliad Aviram, and Shachar Shapira, and Itai Shavit, and Asaf Miller
Medical Corps, Israeli Defense Forces, Tel-Hashomer, Israel (AG, DE, JC, SK, EA, SS); Department of Internal Medicine "B", Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel (DE); Department of Emergency Medicine, Leon and Mathilde Recanati School for Community Health Professions, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel (JC); Pediatric Emergency Department, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel (IS); Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; (IS); Medical Intensive Care Unit, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel (AM).

The objective of this study was to evaluate the emergency care provided by the Israeli Military Airborne Combat Evacuation Unit (MACEU) during helicopter winching operations. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed of all patients rescued by winching by the MACEU between December 2011 and October 2018. Data were extracted from the electronic medical records of the unit registry. The data collected included helicopter type, scene times, demographics, mechanism of injury, interventions, medications, and survival. Results: During the study period, 208 civilians with a mean age of 36.8 ± 19.2 years were evacuated from inaccessible areas, 192 were from difficult terrain, 10 from sea vessels, and 5 from floods. All patients were winched up with a crewmember. No patient or crewmember was injured during winching. Overall, 156/208 (75%) had a traumatic injury, and 52/208 (25%) had a medical emergency. Sikorsky UH-60 "BlackHawk" helicopters and Sikorsky CH-53 "Sea Stallion" helicopters were used in 179 and 28 operations, respectively. Eighteen different procedures were performed by the medical personnel of the unit on scene and en route. The most performed procedures were peripheral vascular access establishment (60.6%), fluids administration (57.7%), oxygen supplementation (42.8%), analgesia (39.9%) and spine immobilization (37.5%). On scene, none of the patients was treated with a physician-only intervention. Thirty/208 (14.5%) patients were winched-up in darkness conditions. Eleven/208 (5.3%) apneic breathing patients were winched up ventilated by a crewmember. All the six patients who had oxygen saturation ≥89% after entrance into the cabin, survived. Conclusions: The reported MACEU experience provides useful information on the clinical characteristics, medical interventions, and outcomes of patients rescued using a winching operation. Study findings emphasize the importance of airway management and ventilation during winching.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D008889 Military Personnel Persons including soldiers involved with the armed forces. Air Force Personnel,Armed Forces Personnel,Army Personnel,Coast Guard,Marines,Navy Personnel,Sailors,Soldiers,Submariners,Military,Force Personnel, Air,Personnel, Air Force,Personnel, Armed Forces,Personnel, Army,Personnel, Military,Personnel, Navy,Sailor,Soldier,Submariner
D004632 Emergency Medical Services Services specifically designed, staffed, and equipped for the emergency care of patients. Emergency Care,Emergency Health Services,Emergicenters,Prehospital Emergency Care,Emergency Care, Prehospital,Emergency Services, Medical,Medical Services, Emergency,Services, Emergency Medical,Emergency Health Service,Emergency Medical Service,Emergency Service, Medical,Emergicenter,Health Service, Emergency,Health Services, Emergency,Medical Emergency Service,Medical Emergency Services,Medical Service, Emergency,Service, Emergency Health,Service, Emergency Medical,Service, Medical Emergency,Services, Emergency Health,Services, Medical Emergency
D006736 Horses Large, hoofed mammals of the family EQUIDAE. Horses are active day and night with most of the day spent seeking and consuming food. Feeding peaks occur in the early morning and late afternoon, and there are several daily periods of rest. Equus caballus,Equus przewalskii,Horse, Domestic,Domestic Horse,Domestic Horses,Horse,Horses, Domestic
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000293 Adolescent A person 13 to 18 years of age. Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults
D000401 Aircraft A weight-carrying structure for navigation of the air that is supported either by its own buoyancy or by the dynamic action of the air against its surfaces. (Webster, 1973) Ejection Seats,Helicopters,Airplanes,Airplane,Ejection Seat,Helicopter,Seat, Ejection,Seats, Ejection
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia

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