scholarly journals Mapping Spatiotemporal Diffusion of COVID-19 in Lombardy (Italy) on the Base of Emergency Medical Services Activities

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 639
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Gianquintieri ◽  
Maria Antonia Brovelli ◽  
Andrea Pagliosa ◽  
Gabriele Dassi ◽  
Piero Maria Brambilla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Spatiotemporal Evolution ◽  
Lombardy Region ◽  
Respiratory Problems ◽  
Emergency Calls ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Early Phases

The epidemic of coronavirus-disease-2019 (COVID-19) started in Italy with the first official diagnosis on 21 February 2020; hence, it is now known how many cases were already present in earlier days and weeks, thus limiting the possibilities of conducting any retrospective analysis. We hypothesized that an unbiased representation of COVID-19 diffusion in these early phases could be inferred by the georeferenced calls to the emergency number relevant to respiratory problems and by the following emergency medical services (EMS) interventions. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to identify the beginning of anomalous trends (change in the data morphology) in emergency calls and EMS ambulances dispatches and reconstruct COVID-19 spatiotemporal evolution on the territory of Lombardy region. Accordingly, a signal processing method, previously used to find morphological features on the electrocardiographic signal, was applied on a time series representative of territorial clusters of about 100,000 citizens. Both emergency calls and age- and gender-weighted ambulance dispatches resulted strongly correlated to COVID-19 casualties on a provincial level, and the identified local starting days anticipated the official diagnoses and casualties, thus demonstrating how these parameters could be effectively used as early indicators for the spatiotemporal evolution of the epidemic on a certain territory.

scholarly journals Trends and Characteristics of Emergency Medical Services in Italy: A 5-Years Population-Based Registry Analysis

Healthcare ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 551
Author(s):  
Sara Campagna ◽  
Alessio Conti ◽  
Valerio Dimonte ◽  
Marco Dalmasso ◽  
Michele Starnini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Emergency Departments ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Quality Healthcare ◽  
Emergency Calls ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Private Citizens

Background: Emergency Medical Services (EMS) plays a fundamental role in providing good quality healthcare services to citizens, as they are the first responders in distressing situations. Few studies have used available EMS data to investigate EMS call characteristics and subsequent responses. Methods: Data were extracted from the emergency registry for the period 2013–2017. This included call and rescue vehicle dispatch information. All relationships in analyses and differences in events proportion between 2013 and 2017 were tested against the Pearson’s Chi-Square with a 99% level of confidence. Results: Among the 2,120,838 emergency calls, operators dispatched at least one rescue vehicle for 1,494,855. There was an estimated overall incidence of 96 emergency calls and 75 rescue vehicles dispatched per 1000 inhabitants per year. Most calls were made by private citizens, during the daytime, and were made from home (63.8%); 31% of rescue vehicle dispatches were advanced emergency medical vehicles. The highest number of rescue vehicle dispatches ended at the emergency department (74.7%). Conclusions: Our data showed that, with some exception due to environmental differences, the highest proportion of incoming emergency calls is not acute or urgent and could be more effectively managed in other settings than in an Emergency Departments (ED). Better management of dispatch can reduce crowding and save hospital emergency departments time, personnel, and health system costs.

Reaction times as indicators of the quality of expert work of belgrade municipal institutions for emergency medical services

Open Medicine ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-95
Author(s):  
Slađana Anđelic ◽  
Nenad Ivančević ◽  
Snežana Bogunović
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Objective Evaluation ◽  
Quality Of Healthcare ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Emergency Calls ◽  
Emergency Medical

AbstractIntroduction. Methodological Instructions for Procedures of Healthcare Institution Reports on the Indicators of the Quality of Healthcare from 2007 also involve reaction times (RTs) I, II, I+II, III and IV, as the obligatory indicator of the quality of expert work of Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Objective. Evaluation of the quality of expert work of Belgrade EMS based on RTs. Methods. A retrospective analysis of priority 1 emergency calls in September 2009 vs September 2010, and RTs from I to IV as the recommended indicators of the quality of expert work of Belgrade EMS. Results. As detected, in 2010 there has been decrease in the total number of calls for physicians, and the total number of priority 1 emergency calls. By comparing RTs, the obtained data showed that in 2010 the time elapsed from when a priority 1 call was received until it was handed to the EMS team for implementation (RT I) was on average faster by 0.1 min (p<0.01), that the time elapsed from the dispatcher’s receipt of the call until the EMS team arrived to the patient (RT II) was faster on average by 0.42 min (p<0.05), and that the time for the team to reach the patient after the received call through the call centre (RT I+II) was faster by 0.15 min. Also, in 2010, RT III was shortened by 1.27 min and RT IV by 1.00 min. By summing RTs I, II and III, independently resolved level I emergency calls at the scene are obtained. In 2009, this time interval was, on average 38.02 min, and in 2010 it was an average of 36.23 min. By summing RTs I, II and IV, the time elapsed from the call received through the call centre until the patient’s hospital admission is obtained. In 2009 this time was average 31.08 min, and in 2010 it was average 29.16 min. Conclusion. One of the major advances in emergency medicine is providing assistance to a request for emergency medical care where this is produced. Therefore, the indicator of RTs may measure the quality of care provided by pre-hospital services.

scholarly journals EPIDEMIOLOGY OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES CALLS DUE TO PATIENTS’ HYPERTENSION

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-22
Author(s):  
A. E. Manoilov ◽  
V. I. Fischenkov ◽  
A. V. Tsybin ◽  
O. L. Gimadeev ◽  
Yu. A. Shikhova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arterial Hypertension ◽  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Emergency Calls ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
The Russian Federation

The workload on the emergency medical services due to patients’ arterial hypertension calls has not been studied enough. Both the number of emergency calls from urban residents of the Russian Federation suffering from hypertension and the dynamics of the calls from 2008 to 2017 have been evaluated.

scholarly journals Symptoms reported in calls to emergency medical services 24 hours prior to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
F Gnesin ◽  
E H A Mills ◽  
A L Moeller ◽  
B Jensen ◽  
N Zylyftari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Arrest ◽  
Chest Pain ◽  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Funding Source ◽  
Prodromal Symptoms ◽  
Emergency Calls ◽  
Funding Sources ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Abstract Background and purpose It remains unknown whether patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) experience prodromal symptoms. We aimed to investigate symptoms reported by patients with OHCA contacting emergency medical services (EMS) within 24 hours prior to arrest. Methods We linked OHCAs occurring from 2016 through 2018 to corresponding emergency calls occurring within 24 hours prior to arrest (defined as “pre-arrest calls”). These calls were included and evenly split and evaluated by authors. Results Among 4071 patients with OHCA, 481 patients (11.8%) had pre-arrest calls (59.9% males, median age 74 years) with a total of 539 calls. Figure 1 shows the reported symptoms across calls. The most commonly reported symptoms were breathing problems (59.4%), confusion (23.0%), unconsciousness (20.2%), chest pain (19.5%) and paleness (19.1%). The most common co-occurring symptom pairs were breathing problems in combination with paleness (14.5%), confusion (14.1%), unconsciousness (13.5%), sweating (13.0%) and chest pain (11.9%), respectively. An urgent response was dispatched in 68.7% of calls containing breathing problems compared to 83.0% of calls containing chest pain. Conclusion Among patients with OHCA, 11.8% had a call to EMS within 24 hours prior to arrest and breathing problems was the most commonly reported symptom occurring in 59.4% of calls. FUNDunding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): The Danish Heart FoundationResearch Grant from Nordsjællands Hospital Figure 1

Business Intelligence applied to Emergency Medical Services in the Lombardy region during SARS-CoV-2 epidemic (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Maria Sechi ◽  
Maurizio Migliori ◽  
Gabriele Dassi ◽  
Andrea Pagliosa ◽  
Rodolfo Bonora ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Business Intelligence ◽  
First Aid ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Lombardy Region ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Real Time Data ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND Background: In Italy on the 21st of February, the first patient was tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) at Codogno hospital in the Lombardy region. From that date, the Regional Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Trust (Azienda Regionale Emergenza Urgenza, AREU) of the Lombardy region decided to apply Business Intelligence (BI) to the management of EMS during the epidemic. OBJECTIVE Objective: The aim of the study is to assess in this context the impact of BI on EMS management outcomes. METHODS Methods: Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, in February 2020, AREU is using BI daily to track the number of first aid requests received from 112 (Public Safety Answering Point 1). BI analyses the number of requests that have been classified as respiratory and/or infectious episodes during the telephone dispatch interview. Moreover, BI allows analysing the pattern of the epidemic, identifying the numerical trend of episodes in each municipality (increasing, stable, decreasing). RESULTS Results: AREU decides to reallocate in the territory the resources based on real-time data recorded and elaborated by BI. Indeed, based on that data, the numbers of vehicles and personnel have been implemented in the municipalities that registered more episodes and where the clusters are supposed to be. BI has been of paramount importance in taking timely decisions on the management of EMS during COVID-19 outbreak in the Lombardy region. CONCLUSIONS Conclusion: Even if there is little evidence-based literature focused on BI impact within the health care, this study suggests that BI can be usefully applied to promptly identify clusters and patterns of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic and, consequently, make informed decisions that can improve the EMS management response to the outbreak.

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