Can you assess the Clinical Frailty Scale in the HEMS setting? A Feasibility Study

Patients living with frailty are at risk of worse outcomes.1 The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) is a tool that has been developed to assess a patient’s level of frailty.2 It is determined by a patient’s baseline health (status two weeks prior to hospital admission), with a score of 1 being very fit and 9 being terminally ill.2 Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, frailty screening was part of the National Health Service England commissioning tariff, although there is no current agreement on when this should be assessed in the patient’s journey, and this has ceased since the pandemic.3 Helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) teams respond to critically unwell medical and trauma patients of all ages, making challenging decisions on scene. These decisions, which have long-term implications for the patients and their families, include whether or not to preform invasive procedures, such as prehospital...
Source: Emergency Medicine Journal - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Research letter Source Type: research