Review of Literature for Air Medical Evacuation High-Level Containment Transport

Overview

Journal Air Med J

Date 2019 Oct 4

PMID 31578975

Citations 14

Authors

Shawn G Gibbs

Jocelyn J Herstein

Aurora B Le

Elizabeth L Beam

Theodore J Cieslak

James V Lawler

Joshua L Santarpia

Terry L Stentz

Kelli R Kopocis-Herstein

Chandran Achutan

Gary W Carter

John J Lowe

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Introduction: Aeromedical evacuation (AE) is a challenging process, further complicated when a patient has a highly hazardous communicable disease (HHCD). We conducted a review of the literature to evaluate the processes and procedures utilized for safe AE high-level containment transport (AE-HLCT) of patients with HHCDs.

Methods: A literature search was performed in PubMed/MEDLINE (from 1966 through January 2019). Authors screened abstracts for inclusion criteria and full articles were reviewed if the abstract was deemed to contain information related to the aim.

Results: Our search criteria yielded 14 publications and were separated based upon publication dates, with the natural break point being the beginning of the 2013-2016 Ebola virus disease epidemic. Best practices and recommendations from identified articles are subdivided into pre-flight preparations, inflight operations, and post-flight procedures.

Conclusions: Limited peer-reviewed literature exists on AE-HLCT, including important aspects related to healthcare worker fatigue, alertness, shift scheduling, and clinical care performance. This hinders the sharing of best practices to inform evacuations and equip teams for future outbreaks. Despite the successful use of different aircraft and technologies, the unique nature of the mission opens the opportunity for greater coordination and development of consensus standards for AE-HLCT operations.

Citing Articles

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An Updated Review of Literature for Air Medical Evacuation High-Level Containment Transport During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

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