IMER

Mountain emergency medicine is a relatively young discipline of specialization in human medicine and has established progressively in European and North American countries over the two decades. Many issues surrounding rescue and emergencies in alpine and remote terrain still need to be worked out.  As many of the incidences in alpine regions are so-called "low incidence - high relevance" situations, the development of international registries is essential and indispensable to generate robust data. Such a registry enables a systematic collection of data on strategies for the initial medical care of patients in the field and their further treatment in hospital. It is of fundamental importance for the development of standards based on scientific evidence in the field of mountain rescue and alpine emergency medicine.

Data collection for the International Alpine Trauma Registry (IATR) began in 2014. The registry aims to gather data on the pre-hospital, in-hospital care, and outcomes of polytrauma patients involved in alpine accidents year-round. Currently, participating centers include all South Tyrolean hospitals, the University Hospital Innsbruck, Cantonal Hospital Chur, Umberto Parini Hospital in Aosta, Berufsgenossenschaftliche Unfallklinik Murnau, and Klinikum Südostbayern in Traunstein, with additional hospitals in Italy, Germany, and Austria in the process of joining. To date, over 500 cases have been recorded in the registry.

In November 2017, the International Avalanche Registry (IAVAR) was launched, focusing on the collection of data related to avalanche accidents, rescue operations, and the medical treatment of victims. Contributors include all South Tyrolean hospitals, the Emergency and Rescue Medicine Service of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, and the Umberto Parini Hospital in Aosta, with more hospitals being recruited.

Since autumn 2021, the Institute of Alpine Emergency Medicine has served as the central hub for data entry in the International Hypothermia Registry (IHR), coordinated by the University of Geneva. This registry collects data on patients with hypothermia (core body temperature below 35°C), regardless of the cause. All South Tyrolean hospitals are involved in this project.

All three registries are accessible via www.mountain-registries.org. Additionally, a proposal for a new Frostbite Registry has been developed, and third-party funding is being pursued to support it.