Introduction: The local emergency medical services (EMS) provider level within a nearby EMS system changed from EMT-I to paramedic. This increase in level of care was expected to decrease utilization of air medical transport and increase acuity of patients flown.
Setting: Semirural, mountainous area with an annual volume of 2800 transports.
Methods: Retrospective review of the EMS database performed for the 24-month period before and after the change in local provider level. The number and acuity of patients flown was recorded. Data analysis was performed using chi-square with significance at P <.05.
Results: A total of 53 flights with an EMS call volume of 2544 were flown in the 24-month period before the change in EMS provider level, and 54 flights with a call volume of 2842 in the following 24-month period (P >.05). The number of patients with abnormal vital signs or injury severity markers was not different between the 2 periods (P >.05).
Conclusion: The change in EMS provider level from EMT-I to paramedic in this semirural area had no impact on the number of air medical transports. The acuity of patients flown after the change in EMS provider level remained similar based on common hemodynamic and injury severity markers.