Chen Wan-Lin, Lin Yu-Ming, Ma Hong-Ping, Chiu Wen-Ta, Tsai Shin-Han
Institute of Injury Prevention and Control, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan 110.
Surg Neurol. 2009 Dec;72 Suppl 2:S47-9. doi: 10.1016/j.surneu.2009.04.021. Epub 2009 Aug 6.
International travel industry in Taiwan is expanding. The number of people traveling abroad was approximately 480,000 people in 1980; 2,940,000 in 1990; 7,320,000 in 2000, and in 2007, it has reached 8,960,000, which was more than one third of total population. Air medical transportation will be necessary when local medical facilities do not approximate the international standards. No previous study on epidemiology in Taiwan on patients received international medical repatriation. This is the first report to discuss the epidemiology of Taiwan's international aeromedical transportation and its focus on neurologic diseases.
Retrospective analysis of all international aeromedical transports on Taiwanese patients from October 2005 to September 2007 was performed. All materials were collected from the databank of International SOS, Taipei. The data were analyzed with Microsoft Excel and SPSS v. 11.0 software (SPSS, Chicago, Ill).
A total of 416 patients were transported. Excluding expatriates transported outbound and 2-stage inbound transports, the Taiwanese patient number with international aeromedical transport was 379; 51 by air ambulance and 328 commercially. There were 271 male (72%) and 108 female patients (18%). Of the 379 patients, 178 (47%) were neurologic diseases. Two hundred ninety-five (78%) patients were transported from China. Patient transports peaked in autumn by 105 (28%). Of all 33 ventilated patients, 12 (36%) were neurologic diseases. In-flight complications occurred in 10% of neurologic and 2% of nonneurologic cases. No in-flight mortality occurred in both groups.
Neurologic diseases comprise most of the Taiwanese patients that requires medical transportation. With relatively suboptimal medical standard and high medical expenses in China, patients with neurologic conditions need timely and safe aeromedical transport than those with other diseases. Transport of patients with neurologic diseases, either by air ambulance or commercial flights, can only be safely performed by well-trained medical escorts and comprehensive logistic arrangements.
台湾的国际旅游业正在扩张。1980年出国旅行的人数约为48万；1990年为294万；2000年为732万，而在2007年，这一数字已达896万，超过了总人口的三分之一。当当地医疗设施达不到国际标准时，空中医疗转运将成为必要。此前台湾尚无关于接受国际医疗遣返患者的流行病学研究。这是首篇探讨台湾国际空中医疗转运流行病学及其对神经系统疾病关注情况的报告。
对2005年10月至2007年9月期间所有台湾患者的国际空中医疗转运进行回顾性分析。所有资料均从台北国际SOS数据库收集。数据采用微软Excel和SPSS v. 11.0软件（SPSS，伊利诺伊州芝加哥）进行分析。
共转运了416例患者。排除出境转运的外籍人士和两阶段入境转运后，接受国际空中医疗转运的台湾患者数量为379例；其中51例通过空中救护车转运，328例通过商业航班转运。男性患者271例（72%），女性患者108例（18%）。在这379例患者中，178例（47%）患有神经系统疾病。295例（78%）患者从中国大陆转运而来。患者转运在秋季达到高峰，为105例（28%）。在所有33例通气患者中，12例（36%）患有神经系统疾病。神经系统疾病患者中有10%发生飞行中并发症，非神经系统疾病患者中有2%发生。两组均未发生飞行中死亡。
神经系统疾病占台湾需要医疗转运患者的大多数。由于中国大陆医疗水平相对欠佳且医疗费用高昂，神经系统疾病患者比其他疾病患者更需要及时、安全的空中医疗转运。神经系统疾病患者无论是通过空中救护车还是商业航班转运，都只有在训练有素的医疗护送人员和全面的后勤安排下才能安全进行。
