That’s not the way triage works. There should be a regular ground based EMT or other trained first responder on the scene to assess the patient and determine if an air evacuation to a level 1 hospital is necessary. If deemed necessary then the judicious use of this expensive resource can be performed.

An untrained person unprofessionally assessing a patient in the field and then asking for an air evacuation should not happen. At bare minimum the first responder should be trained in performing a trauma survey and checking vital signs. However, there must be situations in which evacuations such as this example are performed inappropriately. Once an evacuation is requested it’s dutifully performed, inappropriate or not.

The example in the article is one such case. A non-medical helicopter without proper equipment for life threatening injuries was used. And as you said, if this person had internal injuries and destabilized during flight - what would they have done? Could they place an IV or do intraosseus access, give a fluid bolus, provide Epinephrine/vasopressors, or protect airway and intubate? Can they perform CPR?

This evacuation was purely a ride and not properly staffed or equipped for a patient with life threatening injuries or for a patient at risk of destabilizing. The pilot shouldn’t have taken the patient nor should the air evac been requested.