The dramatic buzz and whir of a helicopter lowering to the scene of an accident is an emblem of modern emergency medicine.
So strongly does UW Health identify with the image that marketers chose a scene of a patient being transported from a helicopter for the cover of its latest annual report.
But do helicopter emergency medical services mean better outcomes for patients?
It depends on the condition of the patient, the distance to be traveled, and such logistics of transport as traffic or terrain, say experts. But it is hard to predict which patients will do better if moved by air, they say.