Specificity of desaturation during air transport

摘要

We read with great interest the study of Woodford et al.1 The authors investigated, in prehospital setting, the vital signs data and event recorder system. Of all the vital signs continuously measured during transport, oxygen saturation proved the most predictive of subsequent mortality. However, the transport itself certainly played a role in the observation of desaturations, as far as all patients included in the study were transported via helicopters from the field to the hospital.