Outcomes of patients with unstable circulation transported by a physician-staffed helicopter using the keyword method in Japan
- VernacularTitle:Outcomes of patients with unstable circulation transported by a physician-staffed helicopter using the keyword method in Japan
- Author:
Youichi YANAGAWA
1
;
Hiroki NAGASAWA
1
;
Chihiro MAEKAWA
1
;
Noriko TANAKA
1
;
Soichiro OTA
1
;
Hiromichi OHSAKA
1
;
Kazuhiko OMORI
1
Author Information
- Keywords: shock; doctor helicopter; patient outcome; keyword method; unstable circulation
- From:Journal of Rural Medicine 2025;20(4):276-281
- CountryJapan
- Language:English
- Abstract: Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of the keyword method in improving outcomes for patients with unstable circulation.Methods: Patients with unstable circulation were selected from the Japan Doctor Helicopter (DH) Registry System (JDRS) database. Unstable circulation was defined as systolic blood pressure of less than 90 mmHg when emergency medical technicians (EMTs) contacted the patients. The following details of the dispatch activity were collected from the JDRS database: whether the request for the DH dispatch was made before (Keyword) or after (Control) the EMTs contacted the patient, time from first call to DH contact, age, sex, initial vitals, DH intervention, disease classification, and outcome.Results: There were 650 subjects in the Keyword group and 1,085 patients in the Control group. All the participants were evacuated from the scene. The duration from the first call to contact, respiratory rate, and the ratio of tracheal intubation to transfusion were significantly smaller in the Keyword group than in the Control group. The average systolic blood pressure and survival ratio in the Keyword group were significantly higher than those in the Control group. After matching the analysis to align with the patients’ backgrounds, the observed tendencies persisted.Conclusion: This is the first report to describe the keyword method as a prognostic factor in patients with unstable circulation who were evacuated by the DH using the JDRS. Future prospective studies are required to determine the accuracy of these results.
