An Analysis of Patients With Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Transported by a Physician-Staffed Helicopter

OBJECTIVE: We retrospectively investigated a series of patients with carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning transported by a physician-staffed helicopter (DH) to seek evidence supporting the daily management of patients with CO poisoning. STUDY DESIGN: Subjects were divided into two groups: the carboxyhemoglobin saturation (SpCO) (+) group, which included patients who had a pulse CO-oximeter attached during transportation; and the SpCO (-) group, which included all other patients. We compared the level of SpCO before and after transportation when the level was noted. RESULTS: The subjects were predominantly middle-aged and male. Seventeen subjects (53.1%) received a diagnosis of CO poisoning based on the situation in which the subjects were found, without the carboxyhemoglobin level being measured. No subjects show deterioration of their condition after transportation, and none ultimately died. The frequency of male gender, normobaric oxygen treatment and return to the base hospital in the SpCO (+) group was significantly greater than in the SpCO (-) group. The SpCO levels after transportation were significantly lower than they had been before transportation. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to show the results of the analysis of patients with CO poisoning transported by the DH. All patients with CO poisoning were safely transported.