The county of Jämtland is a sparsely populated area in which an ambulance-helicopter has been in use since the middle of the 1970's. A prospective study was undertaken during a six month period with the aim of evaluating the benefits of the helicopter as compared with the use of road-ambulance transport alone. Total number of patients involved was n = 249. Both flight nurses and receiving doctors found that in most cases, patients transported by helicopter manned with a flight nurse were given higher quality care. A follow-up study by specialists from the receiving departments confirmed that for 3% (n = 8), transport by ambulance-helicopter resulted in "probably better prognosis", and that for 2% (n = 6) the result was "lifesaving".