Rapid evacuation and proper initial treatment is well known to be crucial for trauma casualties. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of air evacuation by helicopter after highly recommending it since 2013 and to propose a more appropriate trauma system in military, through the retrospective study of trauma casualties occurred in ROK military between 2012 and 2013.
The subjects of this study were 45 military trauma patients evacuated by helicopter from January 2012 to December 2013. All trauma casualties were transported to the definitive MTF (Medical Treatment Facility) by air ambulance helicopter. Casualties were divided 2 groups. 2012 CY(Calendar Year) group is 23 casualties who were injured from January to December 2012. 2013 CY group is 22 casualties who were injured from January to December 2013. The data about casualties were reviewed based on the injury severity, evacuation time, regions, types and mechanisms of injuries.
In the case of 2012 CY group, the average evacuation time was 3 hours 29 minutes, most of the injuries were caused by gunshot(43.5%) and explosion(13.0%), the most common injury site was head & neck(37.9%) and then extremities(31.0%). In the case of 2013 CY group, the average evacuation time was 3 hours 33 minutes, most of incidents took place during drill and duty, explosion(27.3%) was the most common cause and then gunshot injury(22.7%) was the next and the most common injury site was extremity(27.8%). Although helicopter evacuation for military trauma patients was strongly recommended in 2013, there was no meaningful difference in mean evacuation time between 2012 and 2013. Although there were more casualties who had ISS(Injury Severity Score) over 16 in 2013, the evacuation phase and mortality was decreased in 2013 compared to 2012.
Military trauma system in ROK Army should be developed on the premise that every soldier injured on the battlefield or the site of their work has the optimal chance for survival and maximal potential for recovery. For this, we should focus our efforts on making integrated military trauma system as well as establishment of military trauma center and faster medical evacuation system.