Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T18:01:47.677Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Prehospital Emergency Medical Services Departure Interval: Does Patient Age Matter?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2016

Bruno Schnegg ,
Mathieu Pasquier ,
Pierre-Nicolas Carron ,
Bertrand Yersin  and
Fabrice Dami
Bruno Schnegg
Affiliation:
Emergency Department, University Hospital Centre (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
Mathieu Pasquier
Affiliation:
Emergency Department, University Hospital Centre (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
Pierre-Nicolas Carron
Affiliation:
Emergency Department, University Hospital Centre (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
Bertrand Yersin
Affiliation:
Emergency Department, University Hospital Centre (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
Fabrice Dami*
Affiliation:
Emergency Department, University Hospital Centre (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland Emergency Medical Services, Dispatch Centre, State of Vaud (Foundation Urgences-Santé), Lausanne, Switzerland
*
Correspondence: Fabrice Dami, MD Emergency Department University Hospital Centre (CHUV) Lausanne, Switzerland E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction

The concept of response time with minimal interval is intimately related to the practice of emergency medicine. The factors influencing this time interval are poorly understood.

Problem

In a process of improvement of response time, the impact of the patient’s age on ambulance departure intervals was investigated.

Method

This was a 3-year observational study. Departure intervals of ambulances, according to age of patients, were analyzed and a multivariate analysis, according to time of day and suspected medical problem, was performed.

Results

A total of 44,113 missions were included, 2,417 (5.5%) in the pediatric group. Mean departure delay for the adult group was 152.9 seconds, whereas it was 149.3 seconds for the pediatric group (P =.018).

Conclusion

A statistically significant departure interval difference between missions for children and adults was found. The difference, however, probably was not significant from a clinical point of view (four seconds).

SchneggB, PasquierM, CarronPN, YersinB, DamiF. Prehospital Emergency Medical Services Departure Interval: Does Patient Age Matter?Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):608–613.

Keywords

departure intervalEMSpediatrics
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 31 , Issue 6 , December 2016 , pp. 608 - 613
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Pell, JP, Sirel, JM, Marsden, AK, Ford, I, Cobbe, SM. Effect of reducing ambulance response times on deaths from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: cohort study. BMJ. 2001;322(7299):1385-1388.Google Scholar
2. Hazinski, MF, Nolan, JP, Billi, JE, et al. Part 1: executive summary: 2010 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science with Treatment Recommendations. Circulation. 2010;122(16 Suppl 2):S250-S275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3. Van der Hoeven, JG, Waanders, H, Compier, EA, Van der Weyden, PK, Meinders, AE. Evaluation of an emergency medical system. The prognosis in patients with an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Neth J Med. 1994;44(1):5-11.Google Scholar
4. Sasson, C, Rogers, MAM, Dahl, J, Kellermann, AL. Predictors of survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2010;3(1):63-81.Google Scholar
5. Song, KJ, Shin, SD, Park, CB, et al. Dispatcher-assisted bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a metropolitan city: a before-after population-based study. Resuscitation. 2014;85(1):34-41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Feero, S, Hedges, JR, Simmons, E, Irwin, L. Does out-of-hospital EMS time affect trauma survival? Am J Emerg Med. 1995;13(2):133-135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7. Zafrullah Arifin, M, Gunawan, W. Analysis of pre-surgery time as a prognostic factor in traumatic acute subdural hematoma. J Neurosurg Sci. 2013;57(3):277-280.Google Scholar
8. De Maio, VJ, Osmond, MH, Stiell, IG, et al. CanAm Pediatric Study Group. Epidemiology of out-of-hospital pediatric cardiac arrest due to trauma. Prehosp Emerg Care. 2012;16(2):230-236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Cummins, RO, Chamberlain, DA, Abramson, NS, et al. Recommended guidelines for uniform reporting of data from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: the Utstein Style. A statement for health professionals from a task force of the American Heart Association, the European Resuscitation Council, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the Australian Resuscitation Council. Circulation. 1991;84(2):960-975.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10. Leleu, H, Capuano, F, Ferrua, M, Nitenberg, G, Minvielle, E, Schiele, F. Symptom-to-needle times in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: shortest route to a primary coronary intervention facility. Arch Cardiovasc Dis. 2013;106(3):162-168.Google Scholar
11. Clark, DE, Winchell, RJ, Betensky, RA. Estimating the effect of emergency care on early survival after traffic crashes. Accid Anal Prev. 2013;60:141-147.Google Scholar
12. Dami, F, Fuchs, V, Yersin, B. The dispatcher’s window. Resuscitation. 2010;81(12):1735.Google Scholar
13. Pittet, V, Burnand, B, Yersin, B, Carron, PN. Trends of prehospital Emergency Medical Services activity over 10 years: a population-based registry analysis. BMC Health Serv Res. 2014;14:380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14. Lam, SS, Zhang, J, Zhang, ZC, et al. Dynamic ambulance reallocation for the reduction of ambulance response times using system status management. Am J Emerg Med. 2015;33(2):159-166.Google Scholar
15. Nogueira, LC, Pinto, LR, Silva, PM. Reducing Emergency Medical Service response time via the reallocation of ambulance bases. Health Care Manag Sci. 2016;19(1):31-42.Google Scholar
16. Schmid, V, Doerner, KF. Ambulance location and relocation problems with time-dependent travel times. Eur J Oper Res. 2010;207(3):1293-1303.Google Scholar
17. Hoogervorst, EM, van Beeck, EF, Gosling, JC, Bezemer, PD, Bierens, JJ. Developing process guidelines for trauma care in the Netherlands for severely injured patients: results from a Delphi study. BMC Health Serv Res. 2013;13:79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18. Breen, N, Woods, J, Bury, G, Murphy, AW, Brazier, H. A national census of ambulance response times to emergency calls in Ireland. J Accid Emerg Med. 2000;17(6):392-395.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19. Lammers, R, Byrwa, M, Fales, W. Root causes of errors in a simulated prehospital pediatric emergency. Acad Emerg Med. 2012;19(1):37-47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20. Cottrell, EK, O’Brien, K, Curry, M, et al. Understanding safety in prehospital Emergency Medical Services for children. Prehosp Emerg Care. 2014;18(3):350-358.Google Scholar
21. Warren, AM, Jones, AL, Shafi, S, Roden-Foreman, K, Bennett, MM, Foreman, ML. Does caring for trauma patients lead to psychological stress in surgeons? J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2013;75(1):179-184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22. McGarry, S, Girdler, S, McDonald, A, et al. Pediatric health-care professionals: relationships between psychological distress, resilience, and coping skills. J Paediatr Child Health. 2013;49(9):725-732.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23. Tsai, A, Kallsen, G. Epidemiology of pediatric prehospital care. Ann Emerg Med. 1987;16(3):284-292.Google Scholar
24. Shah, MN, Cushman, JT, Davis, CO, Bazarian, JJ, Auinger, P, Friedman, B. The epidemiology of Emergency Medical Services use by children: an analysis of the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. Prehospital Emerg Care. 2008;12(3):269-276.Google Scholar
25. Seidel, JS, Hornbein, M, Yoshiyama, K, Kuznets, D, Finklestein, JZ, St Geme, JW Jr. Emergency Medical Services and the pediatric patient: are the needs being met? Pediatrics. 1984;73(6):769-772.Google Scholar
26. Joyce, SM, Brown, DE, Nelson, EA. Epidemiology of pediatric EMS practice: a multistate analysis. Prehosp Disaster Med. 1996;11(3):180-187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27. Houtekie, L, Meert, P, Thys, F, Guy-Viterbo, V, Clement de Clety, S. Prehospital pediatric emergencies in Belgium: an epidemiologic study. Eur J Emerg Med. 2015;22(2):107-110.Google Scholar
28. Selig, HF, Trimmel, H, Voelckel, VG, Hüpfl, M, Trittenwein, G, Nagele, P. Prehospital pediatric emergencies in Austrian Helicopter Emergency Medical Service - a nationwide, population-based cohort study. Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2011;123(17-18):552-558.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed