Current Usage of Helicopter Ambulances Services in the State of Arizona

Abstract

The overall goals of this research project were threefold: to characterize how the Helicopter Ambulance system in Arizona is used for trauma, comparison of Ground and Helicopter Ambulance usage, and recommendations to facilitate effective use of the Helicopter Ambulance system. Data for this project were obtained from the Arizona Department of Health Services Trauma Registry. Analysis included descriptive statistics, crosstabulation, calculation of two-year usage rates, and Z-score (for proportions) comparison between Ground and Helicopter Ambulance for statistical significance (using SPSS18/20). The American Indian/Alaska Native population was the most frequently transported (two-year rate 1572.3/100,000 population; all transport methods). Gila County and Yuma County had the highest rates of Ground Ambulance transport (Gila 1016.8/100,000, Yuma 1161.7/100,000) whereas Maricopa County was much lower (431/100,000). For Helicopter Ambulance use, the most common counties of transport were Navajo and Gila (414.1/100,000 and 606.4/100,000) whereas Maricopa county was much lower (24.2/100,000). 5 The significance of this project comes in the area of recommendations for system improvement. Recommendations include ground-based triage areas to determine whether a patient should be transported to a Level I trauma center (or whether a lower level of care is acceptable), as well as how the patient should be transported (Helicopter v. Ground Ambulance).