Prehospital emergency care : official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors
-
Certain forms of stroke can be treated if access to medical care is expeditious. Since many stroke victims first enter medical care through emergency medical services (EMS) access, minimizing delays in the EMS system may translate to improved neurologic outcome. Because EMS dispatchers determine the response priority for these calls, dispatchers should be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of stroke based on their brief phone interviews. The authors studied the abilities of dispatchers in a major urban area to correctly identify stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) in victims who access 911 and describe what is communicated in the 911 call. ⋯ People who activate EMS for stroke frequently use the word "stroke" and/or describe symptoms compatible with stroke in their calls. EMS dispatch protocols should be sensitive for these symptoms to ensure more accurate and timely ambulance dispatch.
-
To evaluate emergency medical technicians' (EMTs') ability to estimate spilled blood volume and to determine whether limited training improves estimate accuracy and whether there is a difference in improvement comparing two different training methods. ⋯ Prehospital care providers are not accurate at estimating spilled blood volumes. This ability can be improved with limited education. Slides appear to be as effective as viewing actual spill sites.
-
To describe the air-transported patients treated at Primary Children's Medical Center (PCMC), the sole pediatric tertiary care center in Utah and a referral center in the intermountain region. This study describes the patients who utilized the air medical transport system, the medical services provided in the prehospital setting, and the corresponding charges for transport and treatment. ⋯ Injury severity scores indicate that, overall, air-transported patients were more severely injured than comparable ground-transported patients. However, it is apparent that some patients who were air-transported could have been transported by ground ambulance without detriment. medical services.
-
To assess the appropriateness of ambulance use in patients presenting to a pediatric emergency department (ED), with regard to both medical necessity and insurance status. ⋯ Inappropriate use of ambulance transportation is common in this pediatric population, with Medicaid patients accounting for a significant majority of the misuse.