Nationwide status of aeromedical pre-hospital and retrieval medicine in Australia

Objective

To survey the current structure, capability and operational scope of pre-hospital and retrieval aeromedical teams across Australia.

Methods

The medical directors of all Australian civilian adult aeromedical retrieval organisations with pre-hospital teams and/or doctors for inter-hospital critical care patient transport were contacted in a survey to qualitatively assess capacity and team structure.

Results

All 17 organisations contacted completed the survey. While there is diversity in team structure with the pairing of doctors, paramedics and nurses, capacity for patient care is generally homogenous. A doctor/paramedic model is the more common team structure for rotary-wing missions, and doctor/nurse for fixed-wing. Differences are mostly due to state government controlled aspects of their health services. An advanced degree of intensive patient care occurs outside of the hospital. Land and sea rescue is an important aspect of Australian aeromedical work.

Conclusion

Aeromedicine in Australia has many consistent elements, but variable contexts have resulted in a diversity of operational models.