Universität zu Köln

Hinkelbein, Jochen, Spelten, Oliver, Neuhaus, Christopher ORCID: 0000-0001-7262-3723, Hinkelbein, Mandy, Oezguer, Enver and Wetsch, Wolfgang A. (2013). Injury severity and seating position in accidents with German EMS helicopters. Accid. Anal. Prev., 59. S. 283 - 289. OXFORD: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. ISSN 1879-2057

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Abstract

Introduction: Accident rates and fatality rates for Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) missions have been investigated recently, but none of these studies considered the influence of the seating position in the helicopter. The aim of the present descriptive and observational study was to analyze injury severity depending on the seating position during HEMS accidents in Germany. Material and methods: Data from the German Federal Agency for Flight Accident Investigation was gathered for a period of 40 years (from 1970 to 2009). The seating position in the aircraft during the accident and the resulting injury severity (i.e., 1 = no; 2 slight; 3 = severe; and 4 = fatal) were recorded. Injury severity was compared using the Fisher's exact test. P values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: A total of n = 99 accidents were investigated (n = 61 accidents did not lead to any injuries in the occupants, n = 7 accidents resulted in minor, and n = 6 in severe injuries, and lethal injuries resulted from n = 15 accidents). The occupant in the patient position was most likely to suffer from deadly injuries (44.9%), followed by the HEMS crew member rear seat (25.0%), compared to lower lethality rates in the other seating positions (9.4-11.2%). Sitting on the HEMS crew member rear seat also was associated with the highest percentage of severe and minor injuries (12.5% each). Conclusions: In HEMS accidents, the patients' position and the HEMS crew member rear seat were found to be at the highest risk for fatal or severe injuries. These results support the urgent requirement of a large international data base for HEMS accidents as a basis for further studies to improve the safety in HEMS missions. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Hinkelbein, Jochen UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Spelten, Oliver UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Neuhaus, Christopher UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0001-7262-3723 UNSPECIFIED Hinkelbein, Mandy UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Oezguer, Enver UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Wetsch, Wolfgang A. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-474493
DOI:	10.1016/j.aap.2013.05.025
Journal or Publication Title:	Accid. Anal. Prev.
Volume:	59
Page Range:	S. 283 - 289
Date:	2013
Publisher:	PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Place of Publication:	OXFORD
ISSN:	1879-2057
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language EMERGENCY MEDICAL-SERVICES; TRAFFIC CRASHES; PASSENGER DEATH; FIA SCORE; RISK; FATALITIES Multiple languages Ergonomics; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary; Transportation Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/47449