HumasUPNVJ – Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) or in Indonesian translated as Emergency Medical Services with Helicopters is a system or service that uses helicopters to respond and provide emergency medical care in situations that require fast access to locations that are difficult to reach or in an emergency such as a serious traffic accident, natural disaster, or critical medical incident.
The helicopters in the HEMS system are used to quickly transport medical teams and medical equipment to incident sites so that patients can receive earlier treatment, increasing the chances of survival in life-threatening situations. The presence of helicopters helps medics to reach locations three to five times faster than using ground vehicles and is sometimes the only way to access hard-to-reach areas.
Today, HEMS systems are mature in many countries around the world. Seeing the geographical conditions of Indonesia itself, which is an archipelagic country and many mountainous areas and there are still many areas that are difficult to reach, the expertise of medical services with helicopters is of course very important for medical personnel or the like to learn.
Based on this, UPN "Veteteran" Jakarta (UPNVJ) as an educational institution in collaboration with Fondation De L'academie De Medicine (FAM) France, Airbus and Polairud held HEMS training. The training lasted for three days starting from 5 to 7 September. This training is the second time it has been held.
The first day of training took place at the MERCe (Medical Education and Research Center) Building located at UPNVJ Limo Campus, Cinere (05/09). Today's training activities began with the official opening of the training. Then the event continued by listening to presentations from FAM experts .
The 165 training participants who attended offline and approximately 80 participants who attended online via Zoom were first introduced to HEMS and the history of HEMS itself. The introduction was made directly by Dr Hervé Roy, an emergency physician. This introduction also included an introduction to HEMS infrastructure, operations, and the training program delivered by Ralph Setz, a technical and operational HEMS expert.
After getting to know and understand HEMS, participants were invited by Dr Pascal Zellner, a SAMU hospital practitioner (EMS), to dive into knowledge about the physiology, pathophysiology of flight, and the indications and contraindications for traveling by air.
Aviation physiology is the study of how the human body adapts to the physical environment and stressors associated with aviation. It includes an understanding of how changes in air pressure, oxygen, temperature and other environmental stressors can affect individual well-being and performance during flight.
While aviation pathophysiology explains the changes that occur in the normal functioning of the human body when exposed to environmental pressures and stressors during flight, especially flights at high altitudes. This needs to be known in medical services with helicopters because it assists medical personnel in identifying health risks and developing strategies to manage or reduce their negative impact on individuals involved in flights, such as passengers and flight crew.
After the coffee break, the activity was continued with a presentation of knowledge about helicopter aviation (delivered by Dr Pascal), dispatch and regulation of HEMs missions and preparation of patients before being transferred ((delivered by Dr Roy). Finally, participants were trained by Dr Sandra Lantelme who spoke about severe trauma that may arise, stabilization, and management methods in the implementation of medical services by helicopter.
The training participants seemed very interested and absorbed the information presented by the experts well. This was marked by a very active question and answer session at the end of the presentation. The participants used this moment to fulfill their curiosity and provide a forum for discussion regarding medical services by helicopter.