The researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of all interfacility helicopter transfers of neurosurgical patients to a single trauma center in 2008 and determined the actual time to intervention at the receiving hospital. They then compared these times to an estimated time required for ground transportation between the two facilities.
Their analysis revealed that 60 percent of the 167 transferred patients included in the study were at institutions within an estimated driving time of less than an hour. For these patients, they argue, it is not clear that the helicopter transport was superior to a traditional ambulance. What’s more, 63 percent of the transferred patients considered in the study did not need immediate intervention and could have been stabilized at the original hospital before transfer by ground ambulance.
Given the cost difference of patient transfer by helicopter (up to $25,000) and ambulance ($800-$2,000), the authors concluded that physicians may want to reevaluate patient helicopter transport.
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