Introduction: Limited facilities provide curative treatment for serious pediatric diseases, often necessitating long-distance transport. However, such transport poses challenges due to the need for extensive medical equipment. In emergencies where no alternatives are available, the Self-Defense Forces may be requested to provide evacuation within the framework of “disaster relief” Protocols. The Air Medical Evacuation Squadron (AMES) specializes in transporting critically ill patients using a fixed-wing aircraft. This study reviews the pediatric cases managed by AMES and analyzes patient characteristics. Methods: Pediatric evacuation cases (n = 34) from 2006 to 2023 were reviewed. It was examined the age, main disease, purpose of transportation, evacuation distance, and use of mechanical ventilators or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) were examined, referring to the medical records held by AMES. Results: The average age was 5.7 ± 5.8 (0–16) years, and 17 (50%) were 1> year old. In addition, 10 (58.8%) children aged 1> year old were under seven months of age, and one case was under one month of age. The most common diseases were cardiovascular disease (CVD) in 18 patients and respiratory disease (RD) in 14. The purpose of transport was 16 cases of CVD to install a ventricular assist device, 3 cases of RD to undergo lung transplantation, and one case of CVD to undergo heart transplantation. The evacuation distance was 453.7 ± 218.6 miles, of which eight cases were over 600 miles. Twenty-nine patients (85.3%) were fitted with a ventilator, of which eight patients received ECMO (CVD, 6; RD, 2). In all cases, physicians from the transport hospital were on board. No cases of cardiac arrest occurred during evacuation. Conclusion: The AMES functions adequately as “disaster relief” for the social mission of transporting critically ill pediatric patients.
Kurokawa et al. (Sun,) studied this question.