The “unclear problem” category: an analysis of its patient and dispatch characteristics and its trend over time
Abstract Background An effective emergency medical dispatch process is vital to provide appropriate prehospital care to patients. It increases patient safety and ensures the sustainable use of medical resources. Although Copenhagen has a sophisticated emergency medical services (EMS) system with a s...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-03-01
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| Series: | BMC Emergency Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12873-022-00597-6 |
| _version_ | 1818138535072366592 |
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| author | Sterre Otten Cassandra Rehbock Thomas Krafft Martin Vang Haugaard Eva Pilot Stig Nikolaj Blomberg Helle Collatz Christensen |
| author_facet | Sterre Otten Cassandra Rehbock Thomas Krafft Martin Vang Haugaard Eva Pilot Stig Nikolaj Blomberg Helle Collatz Christensen |
| author_sort | Sterre Otten |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background An effective emergency medical dispatch process is vital to provide appropriate prehospital care to patients. It increases patient safety and ensures the sustainable use of medical resources. Although Copenhagen has a sophisticated emergency medical services (EMS) system with a significant focus on public welfare, more than 10% of emergency cases are still being categorized as an "unclear problem category" (UPC) and are thus not categorized as "symptom-specific". Therefore, the objective of this research is to gain a better understanding of the patient and dispatch characteristics of emergency cases categorized as "unclear". Methods This register-based study based on medical emergency cases data describes patient and dispatch characteristics of emergency cases categorized as “unclear” through the use of numbers and proportions. Moreover, these cases were compared to non UPC cases. Use of UPC was stratified by month to determine the impact of alerting medical dispatchers to reduce its use. Results From 296,398 included cases UPC accounted for 11.4% of the cases. The median age of those triaged with the UPC was 66 years vs 58 years for individuals triaged with other symptom-specific categories. Moreover, after having been triaged with the UPC, 9,661 (34.7%) of the dispatched EMS vehicles ended up being cancelled. Sensitizing medical dispatchers about the use of the UPC likely contributed to the decreased use of the UPC over time. Conclusion The UPC has different dispatch characteristics than the symptom-specific categories, with potential negative effects on the medical dispatch process. Moreover, the median age of individuals triaged with the UPC is higher than those triaged with symptom-specific categories. Nonetheless, the use of the UPC decreased throughout the study period after the medical dispatchers were alerted about the implications of its use. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T10:13:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d07c67cff9b74cc1bd873f353c721afe |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-227X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T10:13:44Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Emergency Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-d07c67cff9b74cc1bd873f353c721afe2022-12-22T01:11:40ZengBMCBMC Emergency Medicine1471-227X2022-03-012211710.1186/s12873-022-00597-6The “unclear problem” category: an analysis of its patient and dispatch characteristics and its trend over timeSterre Otten0Cassandra Rehbock1Thomas Krafft2Martin Vang Haugaard3Eva Pilot4Stig Nikolaj Blomberg5Helle Collatz Christensen6Department of Health, Ethics and Society, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML), Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht UniversityDepartment of Health, Ethics and Society, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML), Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht UniversityDepartment of Health, Ethics and Society, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML), Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht UniversityCopenhagen Emergency Medical ServicesDepartment of Health, Ethics and Society, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML), Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht UniversityCopenhagen Emergency Medical ServicesCopenhagen Emergency Medical ServicesAbstract Background An effective emergency medical dispatch process is vital to provide appropriate prehospital care to patients. It increases patient safety and ensures the sustainable use of medical resources. Although Copenhagen has a sophisticated emergency medical services (EMS) system with a significant focus on public welfare, more than 10% of emergency cases are still being categorized as an "unclear problem category" (UPC) and are thus not categorized as "symptom-specific". Therefore, the objective of this research is to gain a better understanding of the patient and dispatch characteristics of emergency cases categorized as "unclear". Methods This register-based study based on medical emergency cases data describes patient and dispatch characteristics of emergency cases categorized as “unclear” through the use of numbers and proportions. Moreover, these cases were compared to non UPC cases. Use of UPC was stratified by month to determine the impact of alerting medical dispatchers to reduce its use. Results From 296,398 included cases UPC accounted for 11.4% of the cases. The median age of those triaged with the UPC was 66 years vs 58 years for individuals triaged with other symptom-specific categories. Moreover, after having been triaged with the UPC, 9,661 (34.7%) of the dispatched EMS vehicles ended up being cancelled. Sensitizing medical dispatchers about the use of the UPC likely contributed to the decreased use of the UPC over time. Conclusion The UPC has different dispatch characteristics than the symptom-specific categories, with potential negative effects on the medical dispatch process. Moreover, the median age of individuals triaged with the UPC is higher than those triaged with symptom-specific categories. Nonetheless, the use of the UPC decreased throughout the study period after the medical dispatchers were alerted about the implications of its use.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12873-022-00597-6Emergency medical servicesDispatch centersUnclear problemCategoryCopenhagen |
| spellingShingle | Sterre Otten Cassandra Rehbock Thomas Krafft Martin Vang Haugaard Eva Pilot Stig Nikolaj Blomberg Helle Collatz Christensen The “unclear problem” category: an analysis of its patient and dispatch characteristics and its trend over time BMC Emergency Medicine Emergency medical services Dispatch centers Unclear problem Category Copenhagen |
| title | The “unclear problem” category: an analysis of its patient and dispatch characteristics and its trend over time |
| title_full | The “unclear problem” category: an analysis of its patient and dispatch characteristics and its trend over time |
| title_fullStr | The “unclear problem” category: an analysis of its patient and dispatch characteristics and its trend over time |
| title_full_unstemmed | The “unclear problem” category: an analysis of its patient and dispatch characteristics and its trend over time |
| title_short | The “unclear problem” category: an analysis of its patient and dispatch characteristics and its trend over time |
| title_sort | unclear problem category an analysis of its patient and dispatch characteristics and its trend over time |
| topic | Emergency medical services Dispatch centers Unclear problem Category Copenhagen |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12873-022-00597-6 |
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