An exploration of the use of air ambulance in disasters: An international view

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background1

Problem statement1

Research aims and objectives2

Research questions2

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW3

Overview of Air Ambulance Services3

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY8

Secondary Research8

Different research approaches9

Dialectical approach9

Empirical approach9

Functionalist approach9

Data9

REFERENCES10

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background

Nowadays there is an increasing trend of using air ambulances for emergency. Air ambulances are fast as compared to ground ambulances. Using air ambulance can save many precious lives. Through this research, the effectiveness of this air ambulance would be studied.

Problem statement

The increasing number of air ambulance programs globally has been subjected to a careful examination especially in the face a rising air ambulance accident rate. Fatalities due to motor vehicle crashes (MVC's) are considered as of upmost concern. The goal of most pre-hospital services (either ground or air transport) is to provide rapid transport and appropriate medical care. Most rural emergency ground transport has been proven ineffective, particularly for trauma patients for whom the “golden hour” is critical. That is, the chances of survival are much greater if trauma victims are treated within 60 minutes. Highway accidents are considered the number one cause of trauma victims. “Motor vehicle-related injuries kill more children and young adults than any other single cause in the United States. The global rise in number of vehicles, increase in road networks, and growth in the middle-aged population are societal and institutional developmental factors that influence the need for instituting air ambulance programs (Beach 2001 12).

Research aims and objectives

The researcher aims to study the use of air ambulance in disasters. The researcher has broken the aim into following objectives

Explain the role of air ambulance as emergency medical service

Describe the importance of air ambulance in disasters

Show some important international facts about the effectiveness of air ambulance

Discus the advantages and disadvantages of air ambulance

Show how much this service is costing to be established

Explain the quality of care that air ambulance provide

Describe the requirements of air ambulance services

Research questions

The researcher will address the following research questions

What is history of air ambulance?

Is it an effective service to provide health care?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using air ambulance in disasters?

Who is funding air ambulance? Does it deserves funding or not?

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Overview of Air Ambulance Services

In the early 1970's, Dr. R Adams Cowley began in Maryland what was to become the first helicopter ambulance program that utilized police helicopters which had been specially adapted to civilian needs. He set up a state-wide Emergency Medical Service (EMS) ground system that provided the same level of care to all the state's population. At about the same time, the first hospital-based civilian medical helicopter program was started “in 1972 with the “Flight for Life” program at St. Anthony's Central Hospital in Denver, Colorado” (Bledsoe 2003 94).

Two main factors affected the accelerated development of the EMS system in the early 1960's. The first one was the development of the defibrillator machine, which has been most helpful in cardiac arrest cases with patients who were a high fatality ...