Aeromedical helicopter transport of prisoners: The Mexico City experience

Introduction: Helicopter medical transport of prisoner patients has unique logistical and medical challenges, as well as potential risks to healthcare providers. Prisoners have specific requirements for safe transport, and it is of paramount importance to know the variables related to transport related mortality since most prisoners that need air evacuation are critically ill. Because we understand that there is a potentially dangerous nature of transport of this population, and because of the unique nature of them, we aimed to provide a detailed insight on predictors of outcome in prisoners who were injured as a result of trauma and that needed to be transported via air medical transport in Mexico City. Methods: A retrospective chart analysis was conducted using data from the Mexico City Police Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) for air medical transport of felons that occurred between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2013. Subject demographics, injury, procedures performed, transport time, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), and mortality were collected. Exploratory data analysis, Chi-square, and T-test were performed. Statistical significance was assumed to be p 130 bpm (p < 0.001), SBP