• Adélaïde Vincent, Nathalie Jomard, Julie Haesebaert, Brigitte Comte, Thomas Gilbert, and Anne-Marie Schott.
• Hospices Civils de Lyon, Edouard Herriot Hospital, Acute Medical Geriatric Unit, Lyon, France. Electronic address: adelaide.vincent@chu-lyon.fr.
• Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2019 Sep 1; 84: 103893.

ObjectivesTo map the referral pathways of elderly people after telephone calls to Emergency Medical Communication Centers (ECC) in France.DesignRetrospective observational study.SettingECC and Emergency Departments (ED) of the Rhone region in France in 2013.ParticipantsPatients aged 75 years and older who called or had calls made to the ECC on 7 non-consecutive days (n = 712).MeasurementsAll calls made by/for patients aged 75 and over were analyzed. Data were collected regarding geriatric assessment and patient discharge destination after admission to an ED.ResultsAll 4168 calls received over the 7 days were analyzed. Of these, 692 involved the care of elderly people and were included. The median call duration was 2min59 [1min57; 4min13]. Following the call, 35% of the patients remained at home, 62% were referred to ED and 3% were directly hospitalized in intensive care units. Of the patients admitted to ED, 73% had a stable clinical condition and the main reason for admission was a fall (28%). Following ED care, 56% of patients were hospitalized and 44% returned directly home.ConclusionOver half the elderly patients included in this study were referred to an ED after a call to ECC. For half of them, their clinical condition was considered stable and they were discharged after the ED visit. A more appropriate assessment of clinical conditions among geriatric patients could help to improve patient triage during ECC calls, and therefore reduce ED referrals.Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.

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