History of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS)

The first use of aircraft for evacuating wounded soldiers from battlefields occured during the Second World War with fixed-wing aircraft.  The first rescue performed by a helicopter occured in the Pacific Theater when a prototype R4 helicopter was used to rescue a downed pilot from the jungle.  During the Korean conflict a crude system of helicopter evacuation was used to evacuate wounded soldiers to field hospitals.  The Vietnam war brought major advances in aeromedical evacuation with the first use of dedicated MEDEVAC aircraft and a doctrine for using helicopters to evacuate sick and wounded.  A system was formed for evacuating patients via aircraft in stages from near the point of injury back to hospitals for long-term and recuperative care.  During the war the first concept for using helicopters to provide medical transport of civilians began to emerge.  As the civilian Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) system took shape and grew, the industry began experiencing many safety issues and painful accident rates.