Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Pandemic: Chilean Air Force Experience in the Air Transport of Critically Ill Patients-The First 100 Cases

Overview

Journal Air Med J

Date 2022 Jun 24

PMID 35750448

Authors

Gino La Rosa

Xabier de Aretxabala

Terry Martin

Julio Barreto

Victor Aguilera

Max Wanner

Pablo Gonzalez

Gonzalo Suarez

Viviana Leiva

Miguel Herve

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: Critical care air transport has played an important role during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The goal of this article is to analyze results and lessons learned from the evacuation of the first 100 COVID-19 patients transported between medical facilities in Chile.

Methods: We reviewed prospective data of patients who were referred for air transport between March 27, 2020, and July 9, 2020.

Results: Of 115 referred patients, 100 were transported by air. All patients were intubated and mechanically ventilated. Hypertension, diabetes, and obesity were the most commonly observed comorbidities. Our service did not experience any major problems in patient care en route or among the crewmembers. We did not observe any severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections among our flight team members during the study period. Twelve (12%) patients died at their destination intensive care unit, whereas the remaining 88 patients (88%) returned to their primary hospitals after recovery.

Conclusions: Air transport of mechanically ventilated patients with COVID-19 infection has been shown to be a safe way of transport, with no in-flight deaths and an in-hospital mortality of 12%, which compares favorably with the in-hospital mortality of similar patients who did not undergo air transport.

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