PREHOSPITAL EMERGENCY CARE BY SURGEONS ON A MOBILE EMERGENCY CARE AND RESCUE UNIT

From 1.1. 1985 to 31. 12. 1990 n = 10 569 emergency cases were prospectively documented. The aim of the study was to evaluate, whether surgeons on a mobile emergency care and rescue unit were able to treat surgical and non-surgical emergencies sufficiently during the prehospital period. 16.8 % of the patients were trauma patients while 47 % suffered from medical disorders, e. g. myocardial infarction (12 %), other cardiocirculatory disorders (7 %) and acute opiate and multidrug poisoning (16 %). Additionally, other problems out of the broad spectrum of emergency medicine such as disorders from pediatrics, neurology/neurosurgery, gynecology, toxicology, pulmonology, endocrinology etc. had to be solved. More than 50 % suffered from life-threatening emergencies, 5.6 % required cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, 45 % of which were primarily successful. In-field deaths where emergency treatment was not successful occured in 3.2 %. The mortality rate during transport to the next available hospital was 0.1 %. It can be concluded from the study that well trained surgeons are very capable to perform high efficient in-field emergency treatment for various disorders.