Hot Air Balloon: An Unusual Cause of Multicasualty Trauma Incident
type: Article
item type: journalArticle
is part of: Air Med J
authors: Person
  surname: Persoz
  given name: M. O.
authors: Person
  surname: Dami
  given name: F.
authors: Person
  surname: Ciavatta
  given name: E.
authors: Person
  surname: Vallotton
  given name: L.
authors: Person
  surname: Albrecht
  given name: R.
authors: Person
  surname: Carron
  given name: P. N.
subject: *Accidents, Aviation/prevention & control/statistics & numerical data
subject: *Air Ambulances
subject: Adult
subject: Aged
subject: Aircraft
subject: Female
subject: Humans
subject: Male
subject: Middle Aged
subject: Multiple Trauma/etiology/therapy
subject: Switzerland
subject: Wounds and Injuries/*etiology/therapy
subject: Young Adult
abstract: Hot air balloon incidents are few and far between compared with the total number of flights. Nevertheless, hot air balloon incidents may produce severe trauma involving several patients and are linked to significant mortality. The prehospital management of injured patients starts after having secured potential surrounding dangers, such as fire or explosion. In the context of a rescue by helicopter, close attention must be paid to potential obstacles, like trees or electrical wires, and the risk of aspiration of the balloon envelope into the rotor. Patients involved in such incidents are often split up in a closed perimeter around the crash point. The severity of the trauma depends essentially on the height of the fall. The most frequent traumatic lesions involve fractures of the lower limbs, the spine, and the pelvis as well as severe burns caused by the balloon fire. Because of the number of patients present, an initial triage is usually required at the site. The use of rescue helicopters can be helpful. They can perform aerial reconnaissance, provide on-site high-level resources, enable access to the patients even in hostile environments, and quickly transport them to trauma center hospitals.
date: 2016-06-04
pages: 176-9
coverage: 27255882

Air Med J
type: Journal
volume: 35
number: 3
identifier: DOI 10.1016/j.amj.2015.12.014
identifier: ISSN 1532-6497 (Electronic) 1067-991X (Linking)