Study objectives: To determine if the deployment of a helicopter-borne nurse/paramedic team contributed to survival of victims of nontraumatic cardiac arrest in a rural setting.
Design: Retrospective chart review.
Setting: A university hospital-based helicopter aeromedical program serving a primarily rural region with a volunteer basic life support/advanced life support ground emergency medical services system.
Participants: Victims of nontraumatic cardiac arrest, older than 15 years, in cardiac arrest at the time of request for air evacuation.
Measurements and main results: Eighty-four patients were identified who met the study inclusion criteria between January 1, 1986, and December 31, 1989. Basic life support care was always available before aeromedical crew arrival; advanced life support care was available in 58% of cases before helicopter arrival. Resuscitative efforts were terminated in the field in 55 cases; of 29 patients transported to the emergency department, only ten (12%)survived to hospital admission. Only one patient (1%) survived to hospital discharge; this patient was resuscitated by ground advanced life support providers before helicopter arrival. Conclusion: Despite providing improved availability of advanced life support care in some cases, deployment of aeromedical teams had a negligible effect on patient survival from nontraumatic cardiac arrest in a rural setting.