In Germany, emergency medical care is provided by ambulances. Emergency physicians also are used in the German rescue system to ensure primary care. Additionally, rescue helicopters are insertable. The rescue helicopter in Dresden covers the city of Dresden and its surrounding areas, with 517,000 inhabitants and distances up to 70 km. The goal of this study was to evaluate emergency cases in helicopter rescue missions according to primary diagnoses and severity of the mission on the basis of NACA Score.

Data from all emergencies using the German Air Rescue (DRF-Luftrettung) Helicopter Base Dresden were recorded on a standardized protocol and transferred to a central computer database (MEDAT®). Data from all emergency cases between January 2006 and July 2010 were analyzed.

There was a total of 6,310 emergencies during the study period, with a significant increase over time. The helicopter was on-scene within 10.9 minutes. In total, 54% of the patients were male. The rate of female patients > 80 years of age was 64.5%. A total of 63.4% of patients suffered life-threatening injuries or dysfunctions and a NACA score ≥ 4. A total of 7.6% of patients were classified in NACA 6 or 7. The most common cause for rescue missions was an acute coronary syndrome (20.4%). Other frequent diagnoses included brain injury (13.3%), unconsciousness (12.5%), stroke (12.9%), general cerebral convulsion (7.9%), polytrauma (6.4%), and cardiac arrest (5.0%). The rate of prehospital endotracheal intubation was 15.1%. In 1.1% of patients, a thoracic drainage was established.

In recent years the number of helicopter rescue missions increased, along with injury severity. The total number of patients with NACA 6 and 7 was extremely high, and demonstrates the need for an efficient emergency medical rescue system that includes helicopters.