PhD M.B. (Michelle) Oude Alink

Below is a brief summary of the dissertation:

In the Netherlands physician staffed Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS), also known as the ‘traumahelicopter’ can be dispatched additional to Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in the pre-hospital setting. They are staffed by a pilot, specialized anesthesiologist or traumasurgeon and specialized nurse. 
During a 6 year period HEMS was dispatched 1905 times for a pediatric emergency. This thesis shows that in almost halve of these cases it was for a critically ill child. Furthermore mortality was almost three times higher than the trauma population with 15.3% for the ill and 5.5% for the injured child. 
HEMS provides expertise for life saving interventions. Majority of these interventions are additional medication, airway management, hemodynamic support and specialized resuscitation of for example the drowned patient or newborn. 
Surgical procedures as internal cardiac massage and resuscitative caesareans with a mother in cardiopulmonary arrest are also rare for HEMS. 
Braininjury is common in pediatric traumapatients. Initial mild or moderate injury does not exclude emergency interventions, such as airway management. 
Spinal injury is uncommon for traumapatients 0-11 years old. For the 12-17 year old, spinal injury is found in 10% of the population, with great variation in severity. 
Due to the age dependent variation in anatomy and physiology a low threshold for HEMS remains vital for the seriously ill or injured child.