Trends of Non-Fatal HEMS Accident-Related Injuries

We conducted an investigation into non-fatal helicopter emergency medical service accidents from January 26, 1991 to April 26, 2018 via the National Transportation Safety Board aviation accident database. Over this 28-year timeframe 247 accidents results in 251 fatalities and 179 non-fatal injuries. Exploratory analysis of the data indicate that more non-fatal injuries occurred in September compared to any other month during the study timeframe. Exploratory correlational analysis via elastic net logistic regression concluded that no linear relationship of NTSB accident database data provide insights into what factors are correlated with an increased likelihood of non-fatal injuries. Further, no linear relationships of available variables provide insights into the increased number of non-fatal injuries in September during this investigation’s timeframe. Future research should identify if these null results are due to a true lack or no relationship between available data and non-fatal injuries or if these results are due to inaccessibility to relevant data.