The role of air ambulance services in ensuring accessible emergency medical care in the аrctic

Abstract

Aim of the Research: to assess the availability of emergency medical care to the population in the Arctic zone of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in 2022–2024. The object of the study is the organization of emergency medical care in the Arctic zone of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia); the subject of the study is the emergency (including specialized air ambulance) medical services. The analytical and selective statistical methods, as well as the methods of mathematical analysis and expert assessment, were used to carry out a retrospective analysis of the main performance indicators of the Republic’s Center for Disaster Medicine and the Emergency Medical Service in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in 2022–2024. The mortality rate of the population of the Arctic group of districts was established to be higher than the average indicators of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), primarily due to circulatory system diseases and external causes. Land ambulance covers only 51.4 % of the population in the Arctic zone. Thus, the air ambulance services play a crucial role in providing emergency medical care to the ill and injured. In 2022–2024, the Arctic zone accounted for the prevailing share of the missions (from 27 % to 31 %). 45.0 % of the total number of intra-regional evacuations and 51.4 % of inter-regional evacuations were carried out in the Arctic districts. The Arctic zone also ranked first in the number of evacuated patients with acute cerebrovascular accidents and various injuries (24.9 % and 33.1 %, respectively).