Auto launch/early activation: a survey of AAMS members and literature review.

Background: Rapid access to definitive care is a fundamental tenet of trauma care and forms the basis for current emergency medical and trauma systems. Helicopters offer expedited transport to trauma centers and can deliver advanced practice personnel to the scene of injury, but many systems do not dispatch air medical crews until after assessment by ground providers.

Objectives: Here we report data from the AAMS Auto Launch Survey and perform a literature review.

Better trauma care. How Maryland does it.

In March, 1970, the Maryland State Police, in cooperation with the University of Maryland, started the first statewide airborne transportation system. It was modeled after the army's success in Korea and Vietnam, where battlefield injuries were flown to front-line MASH units. The world's premier statewide medical aviation division was made possible through a cooperative effort between the Maryland State Police Aviation Division and Dr.

An organized approach to trauma care: legacy of R Adams Cowley.

The organized approach to caring for trauma patients was introduced into the civilian setting by the innovative pioneer, R Adams Cowley. His system in Maryland has the following 11 components: (1) a State Police Aviation Division that transports patients throughout the State; (2) trained paramedics at the scene of the accident as well as on the helicopter, who will stabilize the patients en route to the Shock Trauma Center; (3) one central dispatch communication center in Baltimore that coordinates information between paramedics and the Trauma Center; (4) a Shock Trauma Center with a helicopter landing zone near the building; (5) trained trauma nurses and trauma technicians to transfer the patient from the helicopter by stretcher to the resuscitation area; if there is a special complication, such as an airway problem, the anesthesiologist and or trauma surgeon may meet the helicopter on the roof as well; (6) trauma surgeons, board-certified in surgery, with a certificate of added qualification in surgical critical care, to treat the critically ill trauma patients in the resuscitation area; (7) a CT scan and portable X-ray units in the admission area that aid in the diagnosis of the injury; (8) operating rooms adjacent to the admission area for repair of trauma injuries; (9) a surgical intensive unit to care for the trauma patient; (10) a team of specialty physicians trained in a wide variety of specialties who work as a multidisciplinary unit caring for the hospitalized patient; and (11) an ambulatory outpatient unit that allows the patient to be followed in the center after discharge. Dr.

Maryland State Police Aviation Division. A model emergency medical system for our nation.

This collective review has the following purposes. First we will describe each of the components of the Maryland State Police Aviation Division. We will then provide detailed information about the Atlas and Database of Air Medical Services (ADAMS) compiled by the center for transportation and injury research (Buffalo, New York) in alliance with the Association of Air Medical Services (Alexandria, Virginia) that provides a unique opportunity for each state to evaluate the comprehensive nature of their air medical services.

An overview of revolutionary advances in emergency medical care in the United States.

One of the goals of this manuscript is to celebrate the influential and productive careers of three leaders in Emergency Medical Systems: Drs. James Mills, R Adams Cowley, and David Boyd. Through his courageous efforts, Dr.