The Epidemiology of Emergency Medical Services Use by Older Adults: An Analysis of the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey

Objectives To characterize older adult emergency department (ED) visits arriving by emergency medical services (EMS) and to identify factors associated with those patient visits.
Methods A secondary analysis of the ED component of the 1997–2000 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey using logistic regression analyses was conducted. The dependent variable was the modes of arrival (EMS vs. not EMS) to the ED. Independent variables were grouped into four domains: demographic, clinical, system, and service characteristics.
Results Between 1997 and 2000, 38% of EMS responses were for patients aged 65 years and older. During that period, 62.2 million older adult ED patient visits occurred; 38% arrived via EMS. The average rate of EMS utilization by older adults was 167/1,000 population per year, more than four times the rate for younger patients (39/1,000 population). Fifty-three percent of EMS responses with transport to an ED for older adults resulted in hospital admission. Factors found to be associated with EMS mode of arrival included demographic (older age and urban residence), clinical (need for more rapid care and circulatory system illnesses), and service (need for procedures).
Conclusions Older adults account for a large proportion of EMS responses and use EMS at a disproportionately high rate. As the older adult population grows, EMS systems must prepare for the increased volume of older adults by making changes in training, operations, and equipment.     

Burden of Emergency Medical Services Usage by Dialysis Patients

Background: Patients receiving chronic dialysis often require emergent and inpatient care; however, only a minimal amount is known about their out-of-hospital/inter-hospital use of Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The purpose of this study was to describe the utilization of EMS in a cohort of dialysis patients. Methods: We analyzed a cohort of adult (≥18 years) chronic dialysis patients within the Nova Scotia Health Authority Central Zone Renal Program who initiated chronic dialysis between January 1, 2009 and June 30, 2013 (last follow up July 1, 2015). Dialysis patient data was linked to regional EMS data. Requests for EMS, including encounter type, day of the week, and patient characteristics were described. Results: The cohort consisted of 468 patients of whom 79% (N = 361) had an EMS encounter. There were a total of 8,774 EMS encounters for the entire cohort. Patients who had an EMS encounter tended to be older (64 ± 14 years), compared to those without an encounter (55 ± 16 years, P < 0.001) and also had a higher burden of comorbidity. Transfers (including those between facilities) accounted for 89% of all encounters (N = 7,826), followed by emergency department (ED) transports (N = 749, 9%). Overall, 79% of all non-transfers underwent transport to the ED. For patients receiving thrice weekly in-center hemodialysis, the highest EMS utilization for ED transport occurred on the first hemodialysis day after the long dialysis break (22%, P < 0.01). The lowest proportion of ED transports occurred on the day after hemodialysis day 3. Conclusion: Utilization of EMS services by dialysis patients is considerable, particularly for transfers. This highlights a potential area to be targeted for reducing resource utilization. Calls requiring transport to the ED occurred most often on Mondays and Tuesdays, the day after the long-dialysis break, and may represent a time of heightened risk for in-center hemodialysis patients.     

The Six-item Screener to Detect Cognitive Impairment in Older Emergency Department Patients

Background:  Cognitive impairment due to delirium or dementia is common in older emergency department (ED) patients. To prevent errors, emergency physicians (EPs) should use brief, sensitive tests to evaluate older patient's mental status. Prior studies have shown that the Six-Item Screener (SIS) meets these criteria.
Objectives:  The goal was to verify the performance of the SIS in a large, multicenter sample of older ED patients.
Methods:  A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted in three urban academic medical center EDs. English-speaking ED patients ≥65 years old were enrolled. Patients who received medications that could affect cognition, were too ill, were unable to cooperate, were previously enrolled, or refused to participate were excluded. Patients were administered either the SIS or the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), followed by the other test 30 minutes later. An MMSE of 23 or less was the criterion standard for cognitive impairment; the SIS cutoff was 4 or less for cognitive impairment. Standard operator characteristics of diagnostic tests were calculated with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and a receiver operating characteristic curve was plotted.
Results:  The authors enrolled 352 subjects; 111 were cognitively impaired by MMSE (32%, 95% CI = 27% to 37%). The SIS was 63% sensitive (95% CI = 53% to 72%) and 81% specific (95% CI = 75% to 85%). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.77 (95% CI = 0.72 to 0.83).
Conclusions:  The sensitivity of the SIS was lower than in prior studies. The reasons for this lower sensitivity are unclear. Further study is needed to clarify the ideal brief mental status test for ED use.     

Emergency Medical Services Fellowship in the United States of America

Travelling outside Australia to undertake further training in an area of subspecialty interest is both interesting and beneficial to the advancement of the individual and our specialty. In the United States of America, such formal training following completion of specialist qualification in emergency medicine is referred to as ‘Fellowship’ training. While other authors have discussed the general areas of overseas work and emergency medicine Fellowships, this paper specifically addresses the area of prehospital care, known in the United States as ‘emergency medical services’. Although there are significant differences in prehospital care between the United States and Australia, a great deal of what can be learned from undertaking a Fellowship in prehospital care in the United States is locally applicable. A typical curriculum is outlined, and the steps in selecting and arranging such a programme are discussed. Some potential pitfalls are also mentioned. Given the paucity of formal training in prehospital care in this country, such fellowship programmes are an excellent means of obtaining a very solid understanding of this important aspect of emergency medicine.     

Pediatric Out-of-hospital Emergency Medical Services Utilization in Kansas City, Missouri

Objectives: The objective was to describe epidemiologic features and usage patterns of pediatric emergency medical services (EMS) transports in Kansas City, Missouri. Methods: The study consisted of a retrospective analysis of transports from January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2004, for Kansas City, Missouri, residents younger than 15 years of age (excluding interfacility transports. Data included demographics, insurance, day and time of transport, patient zip code, chief complaint, and number of individual transports. Rates were calculated using intercensal estimates for the denominator. All rates were expressed as number of transports per 1,000 persons per year (PPY). Results: A total of 5,717 pediatric transports occurred in the 3-year study period. Transport rates were 18 PPY for all users, 42 PPY for those <1 year old, 23 PPY for ages 1–4 years, 12 PPY for ages 5–9 years, and 14 PPY for ages 10–14 years. Infants <1 year were more likely than children aged 5–9 years to use EMS (relative risk [RR] = 3.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.4 to 4.0). Males were more likely than females to use EMS (RR = 1.2, 95% CI = 1.1 to 1.3). Most (64%) were insured by Medicaid. Transports peaked between 4 pm and 8 pm , and lowest usage was 4 am to 8 am (p < 0.001). Overall usage did not vary by weekday or season. Respiratory transports were more common in the fall and winter, while trauma transports were more common in the summer (p < 0.001). The most common diagnoses were trauma (27%), neurologic (19%), and respiratory (18%). Eleven percent of users accessed EMS more than once (26% of all transports). There was a significant inverse linear relationship between transport rate and median family income by zip code (r = −0.36, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Children in zip codes with lower incomes, infants, and males were more likely to use EMS. Factors related to these increased transport rates are unknown.     

Predictors of Emergency Medical Services Utilization by Elders

OBJECTIVE: Elders (age > or = 65 years) frequently use emergency medical services (EMS) for care. Understanding reasons for EMS use by elders may allow better management of EMS demand. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no studies have identified patient characteristics associated with EMS use by elders. This study aimed to identify patient attributes associated with elder EMS users. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study of non-institutionalized elders presenting to an urban university hospital emergency department. Nine hundred thirty elder patients completed the survey. The authors asked patients about access to care, health beliefs, and reasons for requesting EMS assistance. Univariate and logistic regression were used to identify predictors of EMS use. RESULTS: The sample had a mean age of 76 years; 37% were male; 79% were African American. Thirty percent arrived via EMS. Sixty-five percent of those transported and 46% of those not transported by EMS were admitted to the hospital (p < 0.001). Reported reasons for using EMS transport included immobility (33%), illness (22%), request by others (21%), instruction from health care providers (10%), and lack of transportation (10%). Logistic regression identified symptom onset within four hours of seeking care (OR = 3.1), age > or = 85 years (OR = 1.63), increased deficiencies in activities of daily living (OR = 1.40 per deficiency), worse physical functioning (OR = 1.14/10 points), and worse social functioning (OR = 1.06/10 points) as factors associated with EMS use. CONCLUSIONS: Elders report using EMS because of immobility, perceived medical needs, or requests by others. Similarly, the presence of acute illness symptoms, older age, and poor social and physical function, rather than health beliefs, predict EMS use among elders. These factors must be considered when managing the demand for EMS services.     

National Characteristics of Emergency Medical Services Responses for Older Adults in the United States

Objective: Older adults, those aged 65 and older, frequently require emergency care. However, only limited national data describe the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) care provided to older adults. We sought to determine the characteristics of EMS care provided to older adults in the United States. Methods: We used data from the 2014 National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS), encompassing EMS response data from 46 States and territories. We excluded EMS responses for children <18 years, interfacility transports, intercepts, non-emergency medical transports, and standby responses. We defined older adults as age ≥65 years. We compared patient demographics (age, sex, race, primary payer), response characteristics (dispatch time, location type, time intervals), and clinical course (clinical impression, injury, procedures, medications) between older and younger adult EMS emergency 9-1-1 responses. Results: During the study period there were 20,212,245 EMS emergency responses. Among the 16,116,219 adult EMS responses, there were 6,569,064 (40.76%) older and 9,547,155 (59.24%) younger adults. Older EMS patients were more likely to be white and the EMS incident to be located in healthcare facilities (clinic, hospital, nursing home). Compared with younger patients, older EMS patients were more likely to present with syncope (5.68% vs. 3.40%; OR 1.71; CI: 1.71–1.72), cardiac arrest/rhythm disturbance (3.27% vs. 1.69%; OR 1.97; CI: 1.96–1.98), stroke (2.18% vs. 0.74%; OR 2.99; CI: 2.96–3.02) and shock (0.77% vs. 0.38%; OR 2.02; CI: 2.00–2.04). Common EMS interventions performed on older persons included intravenous access (32.02%), 12-lead ECG (14.37%), CPR (0.87%), and intubation (2.00%). The most common EMS drugs administered to older persons included epinephrine, atropine, furosemide, amiodarone, and albuterol or ipratropium. Conclusion: One of every three U.S. EMS emergency responses involves older adults. EMS personnel must be prepared to care for the older patient.     

Description and Evaluation of a Pilot Physician-directed Emergency Medical Services Diversion Control Program

Objectives: To describe the characteristics and feasibility of a physician‐directed ambulance destination‐control program to reduce emergency department (ED) overcrowding, as measured by hospital ambulance diversion hours. Methods: This controlled trial took place in Rochester, New York and included a university hospital and a university‐affiliated community hospital. During July 2003, emergency medical services (EMS) providers were asked to call an EMS destination‐control physician for patients requesting transport to either hospital. The destination‐control physician determined the optimal patient destination by using patient and system variables as well as EMS providers' and patients' input. Program process measures were evaluated to characterize the program. Administrative data were reviewed to compare system characteristics between the intervention program month and a control month. Results: During the intervention month, 2,708 patients were transported to the participating hospitals. EMS providers contacted the destination‐control physician for 1,866 (69%) patients. The original destination was changed for 253 (14%) patients. Reasons for redirecting patients included system needs, patient needs, physician affiliation, recent ED or hospital care, patient wishes, and primary care physician wishes. During the intervention month, EMS diversion decreased 190 (41%) hours at the university hospital and 62 (61%) hours at the community hospital, as compared with the control month. Conclusions: A voluntary, physician‐directed destination‐control program that directs EMS units to the ED most able to provide appropriate and timely care is feasible. Patients were redirected to maximize continuity of care and optimally use available emergency health care resources. This type of program may be effective in reducing overcrowding.     

The Epidemiology of Emergency Medical Services Use by Children: An Analysis of the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey

Objective. There is an absence of nationally representative data describing pediatric patients who use emergency medical services (EMS) andthe factors associated with EMS use by children. This study characterizes pediatric emergency department (ED) visits for which the patient arrived by EMS andidentifies factors associated with those visits using a nationally representative database. Methods. A secondary analysis of the ED component of the 1997–2000 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey was performed. The dependent variable was the mode of arrival to the ED (EMS vs. not EMS), andindependent variables were grouped into four domains: demographic, clinical, system, andservice characteristics. Bivariate analyses andmultivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results. There were 110.9 million ED visits by children aged <19 years between 1997 and2000. Pediatric patients constituted 27.3% of all ED visits during this time, and7.9 million (7.1%) of these patients arrived via EMS. Pediatric patients represented 13% of all EMS transports. The annual EMS utilization rate by children was 26 per 1,000, compared with 66 per 1,000 in the adult population (p < 0.001). Sixteen percent of children transported by EMS were admitted to the hospital. Sixty-two percent of pediatric patients arriving at the ED by EMS were transported as a result of injury or poisoning. Characteristics significantly associated with arrival by EMS in the final multivariate model included demographic (age, African American race, urban residence), clinical (need for greater immediacy of care, illnesses associated with certain diagnoses), andservice (greater number of diagnostic services) variables. Conclusions. Pediatric patients transported by EMS are more likely to have injuries andpoisoning, andhave higher-acuity illness than those arriving at the ED by other means. The epidemiology of pediatric EMS use may have important operational, training, andpublic health implications andrequires further study.     

An Evaluation of Two Screening Tools for Cognitive Impairment in Older Emergency Department Patients

Objectives: Screening for cognitive impairment in older emergency department (ED) patients is recommended to ensure quality care. The Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) may be too long for routine ED use. Briefer alternatives include the Six‐Item Screener (SIS) and the Mini‐Cog. The objective of this study was to describe the test characteristics of the SIS and the Mini‐Cog compared with the MMSE when administered to older ED patients. Methods: This institutional review board–approved, prospective, randomized study was performed in a university‐affiliated teaching hospital ED. Eligible patients were 65 years and older and able to communicate in English. Patients who were unable or unwilling to perform testing, who were medically unstable, or who received medications affecting their mental status were excluded. Patients were randomized to receive the SIS or the Mini‐Cog by the treating emergency physician. Investigators administered the MMSE 30 minutes later. An SIS score of ≤4, the Mini‐Cog's scoring algorithm, and an MMSE score of ≤23 defined cognitive impairment. Results: A total of 149 of 188 approached patients were enrolled; 74 received the SIS and 75 the Mini‐Cog. Fifty‐five percent were female, the average age was 75 years, and 23% had an MMSE score of ≤23. The SIS had a sensitivity of 94% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 73% to 100%) and a specificity of 86% (95% CI = 74% to 94%). The Mini‐Cog had a sensitivity of 75% (95% CI = 48% to 93%) and a specificity of 85% (95% CI = 73% to 93%). Conclusions: The SIS, using a cutoff of ≤4 as impaired, is a promising test for ED use. It is short, easy to administer, and unobtrusive, allowing it to be easily incorporated into the initial assessment of older ED patients.     

Procedures Performed by Emergency Medical Services in the United States

Emergency medical services (EMS) must provide a wide range of care for patients in the out-of-hospital setting. Although previous work has detailed that EMS providers rarely perform certain procedures, (e.g., endotracheal intubation) there are limited data detailing the frequency of procedures across the breadth of EMS providers’ scope of practice. We sought to characterize procedures performed by EMS in the United States. We conducted an analysis of the 2011 National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) research data set, encompassing EMS emergency response data from 40 states and two territories. From these data, we report the number and incidence of EMS procedures. We also characterize procedures performed. There were 14,371,941 submitted EMS responses, of which 7,680,559 had complete information on procedures performed on adults. Of these, 4,206,360 EMS responses had procedures performed totaling 11,407,396 procedures. The most common procedures performed were peripheral venous access (28.4%), cardiac monitoring (16.1%) pulse oximetry (13.5%), and blood glucose analysis (10.4%). Procedures were performed most often in patients with traumatic injury (20.0%) followed by chest pain/discomfort (14.0%). Critical procedures (cardioversion, defibrillation, endotracheal intubation, etc.) were infrequently performed (n = 277,785, 2.4%). These data highlight the frequency with which EMS providers perform procedures across the United States. This may help to guide future EMS training and education efforts by highlighting the relative frequency and infrequency of specific procedures.     

心理干预辅助药物治疗帕金森病抑郁与认知障碍

目的:探讨心理干预对帕金森病(PD)抑郁及认知功能障碍的影响.方法:PD患者70例按入院顺序(单双号)分为心理干预组(在常规药物治疗基础上给予心理干预)和常规治疗组(仅给予常规药物治疗),各35例,于入组、治疗1周及2个月时,采用汉密尔顿抑郁量表(HAMD)、抑郁自评量表(SDS)、简易智能精神状态检查量表(MMSE)...     

Information Loss in Emergency Medical Services Handover of Trauma Patients

Introduction. Little is known about how effectively information is transferred from emergency medical services (EMS) personnel to clinicians in the emergency department receiving the patient. Information about prehospital events and findings can help ensure expedient and appropriate care. The trauma literature describes 16 prehospital data points that affect outcome and therefore should be included in the EMS report when applicable. Objective. To determine the degree to which information presented in the EMS trauma patient handover is degraded. Methods. At a level I trauma center, patients meeting criteria for the highest level of trauma team activation (“full trauma”) were enrolled. As part of routine performance improvement, the physician leadership of the trauma program watched all available video-recorded full trauma responses, checking off whether the data points appropriate to the case were verbally “transmitted” by the EMS provider. Two EMS physicians then each independently reviewed the trauma team's chart notes for 50% of the sample (and a randomly selected 15% of the charts to assess agreement) and checked off whether the same elements were documented (“received”) by the trauma team. The focus was on data elements that were “transmitted” but not “received.” Results. In 96 patient handovers, a total of 473 elements were transmitted, of which 329 were received (69.6%). On the average chart, 72.9% of the transmitted items were received (95% confidence interval 69.0%–76.8%). The most commonly transmitted data elements were mechanism of injury (94 times), anatomic location of injury (81), and age (67). Prehospital hypotension was received in only 10 of the 28 times it was transmitted; prehospital Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score 10 of 22 times; and pulse rate 13 of 49 times. Conclusions. Even in the controlled setting of a single-patient handover with direct verbal contact between EMS providers and in-hospital clinicians, only 72.9% of the key prehospital data points that were transmitted by the EMS personnel were documented by the receiving hospital staff. Elements such as prehospital hypotension, GCS score, and other prehospital vital signs were often not recorded. Methods of “transmitting” and “receiving” data in trauma as well as all other patients need further scrutiny.     

Syringe Administration of Epinephrine by Emergency Medical Technicians for Anaphylaxis

Objective: In recent years, the costs of epinephrine autoinjectors (EAIs) in the United States have risen substantially. King County Emergency Medical Services implemented the “Check and Inject” program to replace EAIs by teaching emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to manually aspirate epinephrine from a single-use 1 mg/mL epinephrine vial using a needle and syringe followed by prehospital intramuscular administration of the correct adult or pediatric dose of epinephrine for anaphylaxis or serious allergic reaction. Treatment was guided by an EMT protocol that required a trigger and symptoms. We sought to determine if the “Check and Inject” program was safely implemented by EMTs treating presumed prehospital anaphylaxis or serious allergic reaction. Methods: We conducted a prospective investigation of all cases treated as part of the “Check and Inject” program from July 2014 through December 2016 in suburban King County, Washington, and January 2016 through December 2016 within the city of Seattle. All cases were prospectively collected using a custom quality improvement data form completed by the first responding EMTs. Two physicians completed a structured review of each EMS medical record to determine if the EMTs followed the Check and Inject protocol and determine if epinephrine was clinically-indicated based on physician review. Results: Of the 411 cases eligible for analysis, EMTs followed the protocol appropriately in 367 (89.3%) cases. In the remaining 44 (10.7%) cases, the EMS incident report form failed to document either a clear inciting allergic trigger or an appropriate symptom from the protocol list. Physician review determined that epinephrine was clinically indicated in 36 of the 44 cases. Among the remaining 8 cases (1.9%) that did not meet protocol criteria and were not clinically-indicated based on physician review, none had a documented adverse reaction to the epinephrine. Conclusion: We observed that EMTs successfully implemented the manual “Check and Inject” program for severe allergic reactions and anaphylaxis in a manner that typically agreed with physician review and without any overt identified safety issues.     

Paramedic-Initiated Home Care Referrals and Use of Home Care and Emergency Medical Services

Objective: We examined the association between paramedic-initiated home care referrals and utilization of home care, 9-1-1, and Emergency Department (ED) services. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of individuals who received a paramedic-initiated home care referral after a 9-1-1 call between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2012 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Home care, 9-1-1, and ED utilization were compared in the 6 months before and after home care referral. Nonparametric longitudinal regression was performed to assess changes in hours of home care service use and zero-inflated Poisson regression was performed to assess changes in the number of 9-1-1 calls and ambulance transports to ED. Results: During the 24-month study period, 2,382 individuals received a paramedic-initiated home care referral. After excluding individuals who died, were hospitalized, or were admitted to a nursing home, the final study cohort was 1,851. The proportion of the study population receiving home care services increased from 18.2% to 42.5% after referral, representing 450 additional people receiving services. In longitudinal regression analysis, there was an increase of 17.4 hours in total services per person in the six months after referral (95% CI: 1.7–33.1, p = 0.03). The mean number of 9-1-1 calls per person was 1.44 (SD 9.58) before home care referral and 1.20 (SD 7.04) after home care referral in the overall study cohort. This represented a 10% reduction in 9-1-1 calls (95% CI: 7–13%, p < 0.001) in Poisson regression analysis. The mean number of ambulance transports to ED per person was 0.91 (SD 8.90) before home care referral and 0.79 (SD 6.27) after home care referral, representing a 7% reduction (95% CI: 3–11%, p < 0.001) in Poisson regression analysis. When only the participants with complete paramedic and home care records were included in the analysis, the reductions in 9-1-1 calls and ambulance transports to ED were attenuated but remained statistically significant. Conclusions: Paramedic-initiated home care referrals in Toronto were associated with improved access to and use of home care services and may have been associated with reduced 9-1-1 calls and ambulance transports to ED.     

Response Time Effectiveness:Comparison of Response Time and Survival in an Urban Emergency Medical Services System

Emergency medical services (EMS) administrators seek methods to enhance system performance. One component scrutinized is the response time (RT) interval between call receipt and arrival on scene. While reducing RTs may improve survival, this remains speculative and unreported. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of current RTs on survival in an urban EMS system. METHODS: The study was conducted in a metropolitan county (population 620,000). The EMS system is a single-tier, paramedic service and provides all service requests. The 90% fractile RT specifications required for county compliance include 10:59 minutes for emergency life-threatening calls (priority I) and 12:59 minutes for emergency non-life-threatening calls (priority II). All emergency responses resulting in a priority I or priority II transport to a Level 1 trauma center emergency department over a six-month period were evaluated to determine the relation between specified and arbitrarily assigned RTs and survival. RESULTS: Five thousand, four hundred twenty-four transports were reviewed. Of these, 71 patients did not survive (1.31%; 95% CI = 1.04% to 1.67%). No significant difference in median RTs between survivors (6.4 min) and nonsurvivors (6.8 min) was noted (p = 0.10). Further, there was no significant difference between observed and expected deaths (p = 0.14). However, mortality risk was 1.58% for patients whose RT exceeded 5 minutes, and 0.51% for those whose RT was under 5 minutes (p = 0.002). The mortality risk curve was generally flat over RT intervals exceeding 5 minutes. CONCLUSIONS: In this observational study, emergency calls where RTs were less than 5 minutes were associated with improved survival when compared with calls where RTs exceeded 5 minutes. While variables other than time may be associated with this improved survival, there is little evidence in these data to suggest that changing this system's response time specifications to times less than current, but greater than 5 minutes, would have any beneficial effect on survival.