Common air ambulance injuries and illnesses
According to Tyrol Air Ambulance (TAA) of Austria, the most conditions frequently seen on its shuttle flights from the Mediterranean are strokes, brain haemorrhage; pneumonia; tumour and chronic pain patients; fractures and abdominal operations, especially the bowel and gall bladder. As the winter season in the European mountains continues, TAA’s medical team are expecting to see illnesses and injuries such as cruciate ligament and other knee injuries; and fractures of the vertebrae, lower leg, rib, ankle, collar bone, upper and forearm, pelvis, femoral neck and femoral socket, as well as head and brain trauma.
Dr Eva Wurz, medical director at TAA, described the process of a patient group transport from the Alps: “Due to the region where TAA is situated, our winter shuttles are mostly filled with accident patients. Stable bone breaks as well as torn ligaments are particularly prevalent and based on the injury, patients can be transported using crutches, in either a sitting or a lying position.”
On a TAA flight, each patient will undergo a medical assessment from a team of experienced doctors before being pronounced ‘fit to fly’ on a shuttle flight. “To cover each and every requirement, TAA can use more than 70 different cabin configurations for group transports, each approved by the local aviation authority,” explained Dr Wurz. “The patients on each shuttle flight are accompanied by one doctor, two nurses and a further specially-trained person for emergency situations.”