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Karl-Christian Thies

Publications and source records attributed to Karl-Christian Thies.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

How safe are HEMS-programmes in Germany? A retrospective analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Recent accidents with helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) aircraft raise the question how safe HEMS in Germany is and how accidents could be prevented. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We surveyed all German HEMS-programmes and reviewed the data of the German Aviation Authority regarding accidents with HEMS. RESULTS: An average German HEMS-programme encounters one accident leading to at least severe damage or loss of the helicopter in 26 operating years, one accident resulting in casualties in 65 operating years and one fatal accident in 111 operating years. The major causes of accidents were obstacle strikes during landing at the scene. Flying in bad weather conditions and lack of discipline were other factors contributing to HEMS-accidents. CONCLUSION: HEMS-safety could be improved by special training programmes for pilots and HEMS-crewmembers to address the factors listed above. Safety training for doctors is recommended but we did not find support for the notion of changing the doctor's legal position of a passenger to a HEMS-crewmember.

Accidents, Aviation↗
PubMed2004

Subcutaneous tunneling of caudal catheters reduces the rate of bacterial colonization to that of lumbar epidural catheters.

Bacterial colonization is regarded as a causative factor for septic complications of caudal catheters in children. To determine whether tunneling caudal catheters reduces the bacterial colonization rate effectively, we evaluated 506 children being treated with tunneled or untunneled caudal or untunneled lumbar epidural catheters. Four-hundred-nine children completed the study. After aseptic removal, the catheters were cultured and sent for microbiological assessment. We found a bacterial colonization rate of 29% in untunneled caudal catheters, 11% in tunneled caudal catheters, and 9% in untunneled lumbar catheters. No severe infectious complications were reported. There was no correlation between catheter retention time and bacterial colonization except for the first 24 h, during which no bacterial colonization was detected. The overall colonization rate remained constant at approximately 13%. We found a positive correlation between bacterial colonization and redness at the catheter entry site. We conclude that tunneled caudal epidural catheters can be used in children for postoperative analgesia without an increased risk of epidural infection.

Adolescent↗