Physiologic monitoring during civilian air medical transport.

We used a questionnaire to survey the physiologic monitoring practices of 106 civilian helicopter flight programs in the United States. Respondents indicated whether they used specified items of equipment "all the time," "only as needed," or "never." Properly completed questionnaires were received from 94 of the 106 programs. Although basic EKG and blood pressure monitoring were done routinely by all programs, temperature was not measured by over half the programs. Less than 20% of programs are able to monitor systemic or pulmonary arterial pressures invasively during flight. Routine monitoring of the fetus is done only rarely during transport of high-risk obstetrical patients. We conclude that monitoring during air medical transport can be improved by taking better advantage of available technology.