The Tyranny of Distance – A Rural Research Focus

Time, Distance and Access to Care

Reaching patients in need when they are miles form the nearest hospital can be a challenge.

There are a number of approaches to combat this problem. Across Scotland the Sandpiper Trust and BASICS Scotland work hard to support Doctors, Nurses and Paramedics who live and work in rural settings to respond to 999 calls as volunteers.

Scottish Ambulance Service has also worked to develop rural Community First Responders who can respond to cardiac arrests in rural areas.

Other frontline agencies also often go above and beyond to support medical and trauma emergencies across rural Scotland.

There are also technological approaches to combatting distance and rurality. While evolving technology like drones and advanced mobile phone technology may play a bigger part int he future, the biggest piece of rural technology being brought to bear currently is the helicopter.

Helicopters have a vital role to play across rural scotland, and especially for the Scottish isles. However, to fully utilise the power of a helicopter, they need to be activated early, be able to land where required, and be embedded within a support system to facilitate coverage of the whole of Scotland.

What is an isochrone?

Here is an isochrone showing how far someone could walk in 30minutes from Raigmore Hospital. Isochrones can be useful when planning how to best provide emergency ambulance services, or when deciding which transport option is best.

We investigated the real world application of isochrones in relation to victims of motorcycle related injuries in the Highlands – comparing transport time by land and by air.

The full paper can be read HERE, which delineates and area within which land transport was always quickly than using a helicopter. The paper also demonstrated which patients received all their care at Raigmore hospital, and who required secondary transfer to another hospital. As you can see the majority received all their care in Inverness, with only a very small number being transferred to the Major Trauma Centre in Aberdeen.