Hygienic precautions in airborne interhospital transfer

The use of the rescue helicopter,,Christoph 15 Straubing" for the transport of infectious patients during an epidemic of Meningococci high-lighted hyg ienic and logistic problems. The article lists infectious syndromes which r equire specific hygienic precautions and those which are not recommended fo r transport by air. The official recommendations for protection and desinfe ction are discussed, considering the special features of air rescue, and mo dified on the understanding of evidence based medicine. An algorithm for acceptance of a patient for transport is presented. In con junction with the described hygienic precautions we propose this algorithm to serve as a model for service instructions for the air rescue service of the German Automobile Association (ADAC).