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This paper assessed the clinical and operational reasons for activating the Wellington Life Flight helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) against the criteria recommended by the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Summary
471 missions were reviewed. The main reasons for helicopter dispatch were anticipated time savings (47%), geographical access (36%), provision of skills (7%), or a combination (10%).  The helicopter was dispatched after the road ambulance had arrived at the scene in 52% of these cases, with a median lag time of 11 minutes and 12 seconds, and median waiting on scene time of 27 minutes 28 seconds. The road ambulance arrived first in 77% of cases. The median arrival time by air was 26 minutes compared to 11 minutes 45 seconds by road. In contrast, the transfer to hospital by helicopter was quicker in 99% of cases, with a median flight time of 15 minutes compared to 49 minutes by road.

Wellington HEMS offers advantage over the road ambulance when it is dispatched without waiting for an ambulance assessment first.   The majority of missions satisfied the MOH activation criteria but time-saving issues were identified. Changes to the Helicopter Dispatch Flowchart were proposed as a result.  This data provides a benchmark for audits of future operational and clinical performance.

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The Wellington Life Flight Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS): a retrospective audit against new Ministry of Health criteria