The Impact of Climate Change on Aeromedical Retrieval Services in Remote Northern Australia: Planning for a Hotter Future.

It is known that environmental heat is associated with increased morbidity manifesting as increasing demand on acute care health services including pre-hospital transport and emergency departments. These services play a vital role in emergency care, and in rural and remote locations, where resource capacity is limited, aeromedical and other retrieval services are a vital part of healthcare delivery. There is no research examining how heat impacts remote retrieval service delivery.

Is Nifedipine as a Tocolytic Effective in Facilitating In Utero Transfer?

Objective: Previous studies have reported that air medical transfer of women in preterm labor can be safely accomplished, without preterm birth occurring; in fact, many women were later discharged without preterm birth occurring. The purpose of this study was to determine if nifedipine, when used as a tocolytic, is effective at facilitating in utero transfer of women in preterm labor in the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia.

Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study over a 3-year period of all women transported in preterm labor between 23 + 6 to 36 + 6 weeks' gestation of pregnancy (N = 325).

Quantification of opportunities for early-stage paramedicine students to practice clinical skills during clinical placements compared with an equal dose of simulation-based workshops.

Introduction: A reported advantage of simulation-based learning environments (SLE) over clinical placements (CPs) is that the former can provide a greater number and breadth of opportunities to practice level-appropriate clinical skills compared with the random patient presentations provided during the latter. Although logical and widely accepted as fact, we find no published evidence to demonstrate the magnitude, nor indeed veracity, of this assumption. We therefore sought to quantify the clinical skills practiced by entry-level paramedicine students attending a well-selected CP compared with an equal dosage of SLE.

Air medical retrieval of acute psychiatric patients.

Background: The aim of this study is to review the characteristics of acute psychiatric patients requiring air medical retrieval across the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia, to assess the sedation requirements and incidence of in-flight complications when retrieving such patients, and to review the optimal flight crew composition required for safe retrieval.

Methods: Retrospective data were collected for all psychiatric patients retrieved by an air medical retrieval service of the NT of Australia over a 12-month period between February 1, 2012, and January 31, 2013.

Results: Two hundred sixty-two patients were retrieved using fixed wing transport; 90% were indigenous.