SPEPH says ambulance transport is most appropriate

The Portuguese Society of Pre-Hospital Emergency (SPEPH) warned this Monday that it is “clinically more appropriate” for a patient to be transported by ambulance when the air response exceeds the estimated land transport time.

“When the total air response time exceeds the estimated ground transport time, it is considered clinically more appropriate and safer for the patient to be transported by ground in order to ensure effective and timely care,” SPEPH said in a statement.

The organization commented on the case of a 49-year-old patient with a head injury who was transported by an Air Force helicopter, in a process that took more than five hours for the transfer from Covilhã Hospital to the University of Coimbra Hospitals.

According to SPEPH, the decision between air and land resources must be technical and safe.

“The priority must always be the rapid stabilization and safe transfer of the patient to the most appropriate hospital unit (definitive care), respecting technical criteria that aim to maximize the chances of survival and recovery ”, highlighted SPEPH, recalling that pre-hospital medicine “follows well-defined principles with regard to choosing the most appropriate means of transport for patients who are victims of severe trauma, taking into account several essential variables”.

“Among the main factors to be evaluated are the weather conditions, the estimated time for the helicopter to arrive at the location of the request for help, the time needed to prepare the aircraft and the medical team, and also the duration of the flight to the location of the request for help”, he stressed.

On Saturday, a 49-year-old patient with head trauma took more than five hours to be treated since the decision was made to transfer him from Covilhã Hospital to Coimbra University Hospitals.

In response to the Lusa news agency, the Ministry of Health said that it forwarded any clarifications on the case to the National Institute of Medical Emergencies (INEM).

The executive director of the National Health Service (SNS), Álvaro Almeida, also referred responsibility for transporting patients to INEM , stressing that “hospital transfers are not the responsibility of the executive management”.

In the same sense, the president of the union of pre-hospital emergency technicians, Rui Lázaro, defended that “those responsible have one face: it is the Government and INEM”, and that “ INEM did not take into account the time of the competition ” for the hiring of the emergency medical air service.

The public tender for the contracting of this service was awarded to the company Gulf Med Aviation Services Limited only at the end of March.

“The company had little more than a month. The Government and INEM should have started this competition a little earlier or a little later”, accused Rui Lazaro, reiterating that the Air Force helicopters should be relocated to the interior of the country, where he believes they are most needed.

Since the 1st of last month, the Air Force has been providing emergency medical transport with four helicopters that should operate 24 hours a day, but only one is currently able to fly at night, in a temporary operation until the company that won the tender has sufficient resources.

In addition to these four Air Force aircraft, Gulf Med ensures, through a direct adjustment until the contract comes into force, two Airbus helicopters, which are located at the Macedo de Cavaleiros and Loulé bases, but which will only operate during the day.

According to the Minister of Defense, Nuno Melo, the Air Force has helicopters at the service of INEM based in Beja, Montijo and Ovar.