Emergency Medical Care Provided by North Shore Rescue Advanced Medical Providers

• Published in: Wilderness & environmental medicine 2024-12, Vol.35 (4), p.422-430
• Main Authors: Wynne, Foster T., Turnock, Matthew, Crickmer, Michael, Ritchie, Alec H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; British Columbia; Emergency Medical Services - statistics & numerical data; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Rescue Work - statistics & numerical data; Retrospective Studies; Triage; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1080-6032; 1545-1534; 1545-1534
• DOI: 10.1177/10806032241282963

Introduction The North Shore Rescue (NSR) Advanced Medical Provider (AMP) program is composed of physicians and nurses based in North Vancouver who attend high acuity medical search and rescue (SAR) callouts in British Columbia, Canada. This study aimed to analyze the medical care provided by AMPs with appropriate comparisons to non-AMP callouts. Methods A retrospective review of all NSR callouts from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2022, was conducted. The analysis included AMP involvement, rescue logistics, subject demographics, activity, primary cause, provisional diagnosis, treatments, medical decision-making, and extraction means. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) scores were assigned by physicians to evaluate medical acuity as well as under-triage and over-triage. Results Of the 767 NSR callouts over the 5-year span, 283 (37%) were medical, and of these, 35% (n = 99) involved AMPs. Seventy-five percent of AMP rescues involved traumatic injuries, and 31% involved nontraumatic medical illnesses. The mean NACA score for AMP callouts was significantly higher than non-AMP callouts (3.1 ± 1.3 vs 1.9 ± 1.3, p