Acta Medica Marisiensis 2018;64(1):4-9 DOI: 10.2478/amma-2018-0007 REVIEW Emergency Air Rescue System in Romania Sebastian Tranca1*, Robert Szabo2, Cătălin Dache3, Mihai Mureșan3 1. "Iuliu Hatieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania 2. Emergency County Clinical Hospital Cluj-Napoca, Romania 3. The General Aviation Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Romania The helicopter, as a means of transport, has facilitated a significant decrease in intervention time at the site of request, increasing the chances of survival of the critical patient. Since 2003, SMURD has managed to form a fleet composed of nine helicopters and two airplanes. From an operational and strategic point of view, the SMURD intervention unit, set up seven Aeromedical Operational Bases (A.O.B.) equipped with helicopters and materials necessary for their operation. There is a dynamic increase in the number of air rescue missions in Romania, with most missions being carried out by the air rescue bases in Târgu Mureş and Bucharest. Specialty literature has clearly demonstrated the positive impact on the survival of critical patients assisted by airborne crews, so it is necessary for the Romanian air rescue system to grow up. It is necessary to increase the number of air bases, purchase new helicopters and to continue the training programs of both pilots and medical personnel. Keywords: emergency medical service, helicopter, air rescue, retrieval medicine, critical care transport Received 12 January 2018 / Accepted 08 February 2018 Helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) has be- a high potential for worsening during transport, requir- come a significant component of prehospital treatment ing inter-hospital transfer to a specialized facility, should of traumatized patients in many countries [1,2]. Since its benefit from an optimal transport mode to ensure safe and introduction into the civilian rescue system, the effects timely delivery. of HEMS towards time and cost efficiency has been dis- The use of aviation for humanitarian purposes was for- cussed controversially [1,3–5]. In this context, some po- mally implemented following the Geneva Red Cross Con- tential disadvantages of HEMS (e.g. high financial burden vention in 1925. In Romania this was introduced in the [6], availability of HEMS due to weather conditions) have Decree of Organization and Operation of the Central Civil been reported [1,3,7]. However, HEMS also seems to pro- Aviation Service of 1929, according to which, civilian avia- vide several presumable advantages compared to ground tion tasks also included air and medical transport. emergency medical services (GEMS). Firstly, HEMS is ex- Thus, in 1935, on the territory of Romania a donation pected to facilitate rapid and wide ranged transport due from the Bucharest City Hall to the civil aviation, consist- to increased transportation velocity [8]. Secondly, HEMS ing of a medical plane, was the first structure of this kind. medical crew members are supposed to be more experi- This aircraft was exclusively used for aero-medical mis- enced in trauma management improving preclinical treat- sions in Romania and was the first of its kind. ment of traumatized patients [8-10]. The transportation of the wounded was carried out SMURD (Mobile Emergency Service, Reanimation and during the war by the squadron, proved that the suitably Extrication Service) is a public intervention unit, integrat- equipped aircraft is one of the most effective mean of res- ed, without jurisdiction, of great strategic importance for cuing human lives. These aspects lead to the development Romania [11]. of sanitary aviation in Romania, therefore on 14th of No- Air rescue is an aircraft equipped in accordance with vember 1946 the first Aviasan sanitary aviation unit in the the legal provisions in force for emergency aero-medical country was established. This aviation unit was directly interventions to rescue critically ill patients requiring rapid subordinated to the Ministry of Health of that period. and high-level intervention. A critical patient is defined In September of 1990, an Emergency System named as having unstable vital functions or with conditions that SMUR was established in Targu-Mures and later after may have irreversible complications requiring special in- collaboration with the Fire Brigade (operational part of vestigation, intervention and / or special care provided by a the service for the decommissioning) became the current complex, multidisciplinary team in a general or specialized SMURD which is a mobile emergency, rescue and extrica- intensive care clinic or department. tion unit. Over time, beside the usual missions performed Airborne transfer is used when a suitable transfer cannot with specialized ambulances, this organization saw the be secured by land, or if the transfer time on the terres- need and importance of using the air transport for short- trial route is longer than the condition of the patient per- ening the reaction and transport time of patients in need mits, causing worsening or irreversible complications. The of medical intervention, so it started to rent aircrafts from traumatized or non-traumatized patient, unstable or with private operators. These aircrafts were helicopters or planes * Correspondence to: Sebastian Tranca E-mail: [email protected] Tranca S et al. / Acta Medica Marisiensis 2018;64(1):4-9 5 of various types, belonging to the Ministry of the Interior, Since 2003, SMURD has managed to form a fleet of the Ministry of National Defense or to the Utility Aviation nine helicopters and two airplanes. From an operational from the Ministry of Transportation. These aircrafts were point of view the SMURD organization established seven also used to transport critical patients from Targu-Mures operational bases equipped with helicopters and equip- to other medical centers in Bucharest or abroad. In such ment necessary for their operation (the eighth Aeromedical situations, the medical crew consisted of two medical pro- Operational Base is to be opened in Jibou, Salaj County). fessionals, one of whom was a physician with experience in Since 2008, the Special Aviation Unit has been trans- the field of emergency medicine or intensive care. formed into the General Inspectorate of Aviation (G.I.o.A.) Since 1999, SMURD has permanently rented an IAR- of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. G.I.o.A. is the air opera- 316B (Alouette III) helicopter from the Utility Aviation tor that performs independent SMURD missions. of the the Ministry of Transportation [11]. The helicopter The Aeromedical Detachment from the G.I.o.A. is re- was based at the Targu-Mures County Clinical Hospital sponsible for the operation of SMURD aircrafts. This de- and was equipped with the necessary equipment for resus- partment of the G.I.o.A. runs all the Aeromedical Opera- citation and accident interventions. The medical staff on tional Bases in the country. board had an emergency physician or an anesthesia and The fleet of the Aeromedical Detachment is composed intensive care specialist. This helicopter carried out approx- of ten aircrafts with military registrations and one with civ- imately 20 to 30 flying hours a month, initially serving il registration. From these eleven SMURD aircrafts, eight Mures County and later extending its services to neighbor- are EC-135, one is H 135 and two airplanes: a Piper PA 42 ing counties. (turboprop) - Cheyenne and a Cessna Citation V Turbo- In 2003, the current SMURD form of air-medical inter- Jet ( Figure1). ventions was born, a strong organization that exceeded the From the operational point of view, since 2014 the SMAR project by far. Through the initiative of SMURD- G.I.o.A. is a part of a joint organization called the Emer- Mures, directed by Dr. Raed Arafat, in 2003 the founda- gency Situations Department (D.S.U. in Romanian abbre- tions were laid for a national helicopter emergency medical viation / E.S.D.). The Emergency Situations Department assistance system. is subordinated both to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and A major factor that determined the increase of the ef- to the Ministry of Health. ficiency of SMURD operations, was the development The Aeromedical Detachment, component of the of the air-lift department. The helicopter, as a mean of G.I.o.A, has subordinated operational flight structures transport, has contributed to a significant decrease in re- specifically designed for intervention, search-rescue and action time at the place of request, increasing the chances sanitary transport called Aeromedical Operational Bases of survival. (P.O.B.). The year of 2003 represents the start of the SMURD Aeromedical Operation Bases and aircraft serving these cooperation with the Special Aviation Unit of the Ministry structures are: of Interior. The context in which this collaboration began - Bucharest Aeromedical Operational Base Base, was, first and foremost, linked to the major shortcomings equipped with a helicopter type EC-135 (registration: represented by the need for SMURD to hire helicopters 334) and two airplanes. A Piper PA-42 Cheyenne (regis- from private operators. It all culminated in the first record- tered: 1121) and a Cessna Citation V type Turbo-Jet (reg- ed aviation accident for SMURD. In 2003, a IAR-316B istered YR-SMD). type helicopter rented from Transgaz (a private company - The Aeromedical Operational PointTargu-Mures , from Medias) crashed in Cojocna, Cluj County with 4 which has a helicopter type EC-135 (registration 340). It people on board. On impact, all personnel (pilot, co-pilot operates from the Targu-Mures Aeromedical Operational and SMURD medical crew consisting of a physician and Base platform located within the County Emergency Clin- nurse) were fatally injured. The Romanian helicopter used ical Hospital in Targu-Mures. The aircraft is parked in the for this mission was an old model used by Aviasan in the SMURD hangar located in the same location. 1970s. The cause of the tragedy was unfavorable meteoro- - TheIasi Aeromedical Operational Base, which has logical conditions (fog, night, ice) and human factor (spa- a helicopter type EC-135 (registration 342).