India to launch first helicopter emergency medical service in Uttarakhand
New Delhi, INDIA (DT) – On Thursday, the Indian government revealed plans to inaugurate the nation’s inaugural Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) from Uttarakhand, a northern state.
Indian Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia shared the announcement via a video posted on his social media account.
“I wish to inform the people of Uttarakhand that the country’s inaugural HEMS service will commence from your state,” stated Scindia. “The helicopter designated for this purpose is currently undergoing assembly and certification. It is under my direct supervision, and I am overseeing its progress.”
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Scindia further detailed that a helicopter would be stationed at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rishikesh. Its operational range would extend up to 150 km, facilitating the airlifting of accident victims from highways or other locations to the medical facility.
The introduction of HEMS aligns with the government’s initiative to utilize helicopters for extending medical outreach and trauma care services to remote areas. This initiative aims to ensure prompt transportation of accident victims and patients from challenging terrains, facilitating immediate critical care following emergencies.
How many countries currently operate Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS)?
According to research gate data website Helicopter EMS (HEMS) services were operational in 24 countries as of 2020. Cyprus, Iceland, Lithuania, and Serbia reported that they did not have active HEMS services. Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, and Switzerland reported 24/7 HEMS availability across all regions.
Additionally, 18 countries had established first responder systems, where volunteers were alerted to out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) by dispatch centers, either in some or all areas. Albania, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, and Slovakia were among the countries that did not have first responder systems in place.
A history of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services
According to Air Bus story in late spring of 1969, a young boy named Björn Steiger spends the day at the local swimming pool in his hometown of Winnenden, Germany.
On his way home that afternoon, he is struck by a car. The local police and Red Cross are immediately contacted, but it takes almost a full hour before the ambulance arrives on the scene. Björn Steiger dies on the way to the hospital.
This story and many others were the reality of what emergency medical services looked like for much of the 20th century. Whether suffering an injury at the top of a mountain or in the middle of a highway, a nascent emergency medical response system meant that many victims did not receive the care they needed fast enough.
Today, Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) systems have matured in many countries around the world. The biggest advantage is that helicopters can reach a location three-to-five-times faster than a ground vehicle and sometimes is the only way to access inhospitable terrain.
Patients receive medical treatment earlier and the chance of survival in critical cases goes up significantly. Airbus products were instrumental in the development of the HEMS systems working today.
Air medical evacuation first began its story with fixed-wing aircraft. It wasn’t until the Korean and Vietnam wars that helicopter use became standard for military medical evacuation (MEDEVAC). With such a positive impact, HEMS soon was introduced into the civilian sphere.
Several countries led the way in adopting helicopter use for civilian populations. Flight for Life became the United States’ first civilian HEMS operator in 1972, based at St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver, Colorado.
The French Sécurité Civile began rescue missions dating back all the way to 1959 when for the first time it rescued a mountaineer suffering from a heart attack at the highest resting point on Mont Blanc (and indeed the highest in all of Europe) the Vallot refuge, at 4,362 metres.
The SAF Group followed suit and in 1979 began rescue operations in the French Alps. In Germany, the authorities took the decision to launch a medical helicopter trial period with a doctor and a paramedic onboard in order to shorten the response time for accidents, pioneering the concept of taking the physician to the scene of the accident. This approach provided primary care within 10-20 minutes after sounding the alarm.