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Projecte llegit

Títol: Aerial Health Care system for remote areas and under-developed regions

Estudiants que han llegit aquest projecte:

Director/a: PONS PRATS, JORDI

Departament: FIS

Títol: Aerial Health Care system for remote areas and under-developed regions

Data inici oferta: 14-12-2021     Data finalització oferta: 14-07-2022


Estudis d'assignació del projecte:
    GR ENG SIST AEROESP
Tipus: Individual
 
Lloc de realització: EETAC
 
Paraules clau:
MedEvac, Air Medical Services, Health Care, Remote zones
 
Descripció del contingut i pla d'activitats:
Based on what Royal Flying doctors in Australia or Metges sense
fronteres in Africa can be doing in remote areas, the project
wants to analyse the typology of the aerial service; location and
typology of operation bases, aircraft fleet, aircraft range,
aircraft equipment, pilot rating, number of pilots, doctors,
nurses, scheduling of service, emergency response services, ...
Analysis will mainly focus on the aeronautical aspects of the
service, but without neglecting its purpose to ensure the medical
attention of the population.
The working plan of the project includes:
- Analysis of the existing service, both public and private
services, and both located in developed and underdeveloped areas.
Identify the differences between each kind of service, resources,
and attention requirements.
- Analysis of the aeronautical characteristics of the
service; fleet with respect to the region, aerodrome /
operational bases with respect to the region, the population,
location of the operational bases with respect to the population
to be assisted, typologies of illness to be treated, emergency or
non-urgent services.
- Assessment of the fleet, crew needs with respects to the
scheduling or charter services
- Assessment of the operational bases and needs

Some references:
https://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/
https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/r
oyal-flying-doctor-service-programme
https://flyingmedicalservice.org/
https://flydoc.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_medical_services
https://www.flyingangels.com/
Zakariassen, E., Uleberg, O., & Røislien, J. (2015). Helicopter
emergency medical services response times in Norway: do they
matter?. Air medical journal, 34(2), 98-103.
Klemenc-Ketis, Z., Tomazin, I., & Kersnik, J. (2012). HEMS in
Slovenia: one country, four models, different quality outcomes.
Air medical journal, 31(6), 298-304.
Dotson, M. P., Gustafson, M. L., Tager, A., & Peterson, L. M.
(2018). Air medical simulation training: a retrospective review
of cost and effectiveness. Air medical journal, 37(2), 131-137.
Powell, D. G., Hutton, K., King, J. K., Mark, L., McLellan, H.
M., McNab, J., & Mears, D. (1997). The impact of a helicopter
emergency medical services program on potential morbidity and
mortality. Air medical journal, 16(2), 48-50.
Jones, J. B., Leicht, M., & Dula, D. J. (1998). A 10-year
experience in the use of air medical transport for medical scene
calls. Air medical journal, 17(1), 7-11.
Fenn, J., Rega, P., Stavros, M., & Buderer, N. F. (1999).
Assessment of US helicopter emergency medical services' planning
and preparedness for disaster response. Air medical journal,
18(1), 12-15.
Lyng, J. W., Braithwaite, S., Abraham, H., Brent, C. M., Meurer,
D. A., Torres, A., ... & Larrimore, A. (2021). Appropriate Air
Medical Services Utilization and Recommendations for Integration
of Air Medical Services Resources into the EMS System of Care: A
Joint Position Statement and Resource Document of NAEMSP, ACEP,
and AMPA. Prehospital Emergency Care, 25(6), 854-873.
Simpson, N., Bartley, B., Corfield, A. R., & Hearns, S. (2012).
Performance measurement in British helicopter emergency medical
services and Australian air medical services. Emergency Medicine
Journal, 29(3), 243-246.
Hargarten, S. W., & Boue, G. T. (1993). Emergency air medical
transport of US'Citizen tourists: 1988 to 1990. Air medical
journal, 12(10), 398-402.
O'Malley, R. J., & Watson-Hopkins, M. (1994). Monitoring the
appropriateness of air medical transports. Air medical journal,
13(8), 323-325.
 
Overview (resum en anglès):

Aeromedical rescue has been around for more than 100 years. They are being implemented in more and more countries or areas of the world and this is a consequence of the constant population growth. This growth affects both urban and rural areas differently. The latter receive less variety of health aid, due to a lack of hospitals and specialized doctors or because they do not have it directly.

Public or private, there are already many organizations in charge of providing these Medevac services, which includes the rescue of a patient in a medical emergency, providing medical care to this patient during the journey until he/she arrives at the hospital.

It has been proven that the implementation of these services reduces the mortality rate by shortening the emergency response time and stabilizing the patient during transfer. However, there are still many areas without this medical coverage and the organizations that offer these services are very different from one another. They can be public or private organizations, operate in urban or remote areas, have a fleet and a specific base, etc. This is the origin of the proposal to continue researching this subject by means of this final thesis: Aerial Health Care system for remote areas and under-developed regions.

One of the objectives is to seek and contrast information to understand the differences and similarities between the different types of air medical services: what services are offered, what crew is needed, the special equipment carried by the fleet and the type of air bases used. The aim is to analyze the aeronautical part of the operation, the requirements and needs that must be met for the rescues to be a success. Finally, the last objective is to be able to carry out a preliminary study simulating the implementation of an air medical service in an area that requires this assistance.

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