Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the 5534 included fatal (n = 343) and non-fatal (n = 5191) missions as well as univariable logistic regression to predict fatal injuries

Mission and rescue details

Season of mission, n (%)

Winter

1005

[18.2]

942

[18.1]

63

[18.4]

1.00

(baseline)

Spring

1471

[26.6]

1368

[26.4]

103

[30.0]

1.13

(0.81; 1.56)

0.474

Summer

1928

[34.8]

1822

[35.1]

106

[30.9]

0.87

(0.63; 1.20)

0.396

Fall

1130

[20.4]

1059

[20.4]

71

[20.7]

1.00

(0.71; 1.42)

0.989

WE mission, n (%)

1783

[32.2]

1659

[32.0]

124

[36.2]

1.21

(0.96; 1.51)

0.108

Late/night mission (20:00–07:59), n (%)

1188

[21.5]

1143

[22.0]

45

[13.1]

0.53

(0.39; 0.74)

< 0.001

Winch rescue, n (%)

353

[6.4]

312

[6.0]

41

[12.0]

2.12

(1.50; 3.00)

< 0.001

Demographics

Age [years]⁺, med (IQR)

49

[27; 65]

49

[27; 66]

48

[28; 62]

1.00

(0.99; 1.00)

0.445

Age > 65y, n (%)

1382

[25.0]

1309

[25.2]

73

[21.3]

0.80

(0.61; 1.05)

0.104

Female gender, n (%)

1447

[26.1]

1381

[26.6]

66

[19.2]

0.66

(0.50; 0.87)

0.003

Type of injury

MVC

810

[14.6]

764

[14.7]

46

[13.4]

0.90

(0.65; 1.24)

0.507

MCC

694

[12.5]

635

[12.2]

59

[17.2]

1.49

(1.11; 2.00)

0.007

Bike

444

[8.0]

425

[8.2]

19

[5.5]

0.66

(0.41; 1.06)

0.083

CVP

314

[5.7]

298

[5.7]

16

[4.7]

0.80

(0.48; 1.34)

0.405

Sky activity

106

[1.9]

94

[1.8]

12

[3.5]

1.97

(1.07; 3.62)

0.030

Hiking/climbing

190

[3.4]

168

[3.2]

22

[6.4]

2.05

(1.30; 3.24)

0.002

Winter sports

237

[4.3]

202

[3.9]

35

[10.2]

2.81

(1.93; 4.09)

< 0.001

Work-related

690

[12.5]

638

[12.3]

52

[15.2]

1.28

(0.94; 1.73)

0.120

Household

1470

[26.6]

1432

[27.6]

38

[11.1]

0.33

(0.23; 0.46)

< 0.001

Injury characteristics

TBI, n (%)

3772

[68.2]

3553

[68.4]

219

[63.8]

0.81

(0.65; 1.02)

0.077

Thoracic trauma, n (%)

1642

[29.7]

1489

[28.7]

153

[44.6]

2.00

(1.60; 2.50)

< 0.001

Abdominal trauma, n (%)

912

[16.5]

836

[16.1]

76

[22.2]

1.48

(1.14; 1.93)

0.004

Pelvic trauma, n (%)

716

[12.9]

670

[12.9]

46

[13.4]

1.05

(0.76; 1.44)

0.788

Upper extremity trauma, n (%)

897

[16.2]

859

[16.5]

38

[11.1]

0.63

(0.44; 0.89)

0.008

Lower extremity trauma, n (%)

1130

[20.4]

1063

[20.5]

67

[19.5]

0.94

(0.72; 1.24)

0.674

Durations

Response time* [min], med (IQR)

19

[15; 24]

19

[15; 24]

17

[13; 22]

0.90

(0.81; 1.01)

0.076

On scene time* [min], med (IQR)

28

[22; 39]

28

[21; 37]

51

[35; 69]

1.62

(1.54; 1.70)

< 0.001