The SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research and the Rotterdam Erasmus University Centre for Health Care Policy and Law (CGR) have formulated a study design. The aim is to assist the evaluation of a trial in terms of cost-effectiveness. During the trial, a helicopter trauma team will render assistance to seriously injured road accident victims. In The Netherlands, preparations are in progress for conducting the trial. The study design defines the trial in more detail. It also calculates the experimental periodlength. Methods are presented in order to compare the costs and benefits of this form of first aid to those of traditional assistance by ambulance. An overview is given of the analysis methods to be applied. A list of data is presented which should be collected during the pre-clinical, clinical and post-clinical phase of assistance.
Abstract