A middle-aged man on Central Zealand experiences sharp chest pains during physical exertion and keels over lifelessly. His wife gives him cardiac massage until the ambulance arrives. The ambulance paramedics continue with advanced first-aid treatment and the emergency medical helicopter from Ringsted arrives 12 minutes after the emergency call.

The helicopter emergency physician supplements with further treatment, and the man is resuscitated and stabilised. An electrocardiogram taken on site shows a large blood clot in the patient’s heart.

The patient is flown by the helicopter to Rigshospitalet (Copenhagen University Hospital) and is received in the Cardiology Department 57 minutes after the helicopter received the alarm call. The patient undergoes an acute examination and treatment with insertion of a stent in the coronary artery of the heart.

A four-week-old boy, who underwent surgery in the first weeks of his life due to a congenital heart defect, suddenly becomes limp and uncontactable at home in Western Jutland. His father gives him cardiac massage, the ambulance and emergency vehicle arrive after 15 minutes, and the emergency medical helicopter from Billund arrives 22 minutes after the emergency call.

Advanced cardiac arrest treatment is given, and a tube is also inserted in the patient’s trachea to ensure breathing. An intraosseous needle is also inserted for administration of medicine and fluids.

The child’s circulation is reestablished after 25 minutes. The child is flown to Aarhus University Hospital in Skejby, where he is received after 25 minutes in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. After treatment, the boy slowly wakes up and is today vigorous and has no permanent impairment from the heart failure.

A 68-year-old man undergoing treatment with blood-thinning medication becomes stuck beneath a collapsed garage. He is helped out by colleagues and the ambulance arrives. He is primarily treated by an ambulance, an acute medical car and an emergency vehicle and is given oxygen, intravenous fluid and pain-relieving medicine.

The emergency medical helicopter from Skive arrives 24 minutes after the alarm call and commences treatment with blood and plasma transfusion, as the patient has unstable circulation with signs of internal bleeding. The patient is flown to the trauma centre at Aarhus University Hospital, where he is handed over after 40 minutes’ flight time. A CT scan shows that the patient has had multiple rib fractures on the spine and complicated fractures of the pelvis and left shin bone. The patient undergoes emergency surgery and is subsequently stable.

A previously healthy three-year-old boy who has been ill for a couple of days with vomiting becomes increasingly lethargic and develops red dots and small red splotches on his skin. An ambulance and an emergency vehicle are dispatched and commence treatment with oxygen, intravenous fluid and antibiotics. The child’s condition continues to deteriorate despite treatment.

The emergency medical helicopter from Billund is called so that the boy can be transported to treatment quickly. The weather is very bad with poor visibility, and the helicopter therefore cannot land at the home address. A meeting place is agreed with handover from ambulance to helicopter at a nearby airport. The emergency medical helicopter flies IFR (instrument flight rules) to the airport and lands via instruments.

The helicopter physician supplements the treatment by placing the child in an induced coma and connects the child to a ventilator to ensure breathing. The child is then flown to Odense via IFR, and, at Odense Airport, the helicopter can descend through the clouds and land at Odense University Hospital after 30 minutes of flying.