The effect of air medical transport on survival after trauma in Johannesburg, South Africa

Objectives. To assess the. difference in survival of trauma patients transported to A trauma unit. via either road or air in Johannesburg, South Africa. Design. Prospective database, analysis. Setting. Multicentre study utilising. two trauma units. Subjects. The study evaluated. 428 subjects admitted to the two sites: Outcome measures. Actual survival rates in each group (road and air) were compared with the predicted survival rates. Results. In the road group, 38.96 people were. predicted to die and 51 actually died, therefore 23.61% (or 12.04 people), died 'unnecessarily', i.e. they died after having been predicted to live. It the, helicopter, group, 38.15 people were predicted to die and 39, actually died, therefore 0.85 (39 38.15) people were not expected to die. The 0.85 people represent 2.18% (0.85/39) of the total number of dead in the helicopter group Who died 'unnecessarily'. Therefore one could argue that introduction of helicopter transport reduces the number of dead by 21.43% (23.61- 2.18). Conclusions. Patients with a certain injury severity are more likely to survive if transported by air to a trauma unit.