Air ambulance and hospital services for critically ill and injured in Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands: how can we improve?

Abstract

The Nordic Atlantic Cooperation (NORA) is an intergovernmental organization under the auspices of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The NORA region comprises Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands and western coastal areas of Norway. Historical, cultural and institutional links bind these nations together in multiple ways, and regional co-operation has in recent years become a focus of interest. This commentary addresses air medical services (AMSs) and available advanced hospital services in the 3 smallest NORA countries challenged sparse populations, hereafter referred to as the region. It seems likely that strengthened regional co-operation can help these countries to address common challenges within health care by exchanging know-how and best practices, pooling resources and improving the efficiency of care delivery. The 4 largest hospitals in the region, Dronning Ingrids Hospital in Nuuk (Greenland), Landspítali in Reykjavík and Sjúkrahúsið á Akureyri, (both in Iceland) and Landssjúkrahúsið Tórshavn on the Faroe Islands, have therefore undertaken the project Network for patient transport in the North-West Atlantic (in Danish: Netværk for patienttransport i Vest-Norden). The goal of the project, and of this article, is to exchange information and provide an overview of current AMSs and access to acute hospital care for severely ill or injured patients in the 3 participating countries. Of equal importance is the intention to highlight the need for increased regional co-operation to optimize use of limited resources in the provision of health care services.

Keywords: Faroe Islands; Greenland; Iceland; Nordic Atlantic Cooperation; air medical services; emergency medical services; health care delivery.

Fig. 1

Map of Greenland, Iceland and Faroe Islands showing major airports.