Pediatr Emerg Med J.  2017 Dec;4(2):85-91. 10.22470/pemj.2017.00052.

Appropriateness of transport of children via emergency medical service providers according to the decision-maker on referred hospitals

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Myongji Hospital, Goyang, Korea. Joohyun.suh@mjh.or.kr

Abstract

PURPOSE
We aimed to investigate the appropriateness of transport of children via emergency medical service providers (EMSP) according to the decision-maker on referred hospitals (EMSP [EMSP group] vs. guardians [user group]).
METHODS
We analyzed first aid records by EMSP for children aged 15 years or younger in Gyeonggi province, Korea, from January 2012 through December 2013. We obtained the following data: scene, symptom, type (high-level [regional/local emergency medical centers] or not) and location (out-of-province or not) of referred hospitals, injury, level of consciousness (alert or not), and prehospital triage results by EMSP (emergent/less emergent or not).
RESULTS
A total of 50,407 children were included, of whom 37,626 (74.6%) belonged to the user group. Overall, the most common scene, symptom, and type and location of referred hospitals were home (57.0%), pain (33.3%), and inside-theprovince and local emergency medical centers (44.2%), respectively. The user group showed less frequent injury (P < 0.001), decreased level of consciousness (P < 0.001), and no significant difference in the triage results (P = 0.074). This group showed more frequent transport to high-level and out-of-province emergency medical centers (P < 0.001), and longer transport (P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION
The user group showed more frequent transport to high-level or remote referred hospitals without more critical prehospital triage results. Guardian-directed transport of children might be associated with the inappropriate transport of children via EMSP.

Keyword

Ambulances; Child; Emergency Medical Services; Epidemiology; Hospitals; Transportation of Patients

MeSH Terms

Ambulances
Child*
Consciousness
Emergencies*
Emergency Medical Services*
Epidemiology
First Aid
Gyeonggi-do
Humans
Korea
Transportation of Patients
Triage
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