There are 16 helicopter emergency ambulance services covering the whole country with reported average response times of 17 minutes and transfer times of 10 minutes. The decision to use a helicopter is not straightforward and the transfer of a seriously injured patient by helicopter may be hazardous and transportation by road may often be a safer option. There are various guidelines for the appropriate use of helicopters to transport patients.1Algorithms have been developed to analyse those trauma patients who do not require spinal immobilisation before transfer via helicopter but one study found these to be unhelpful.2
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://patient.info/doctor/emergency-medicine/helicopter-transport