Articles: emergency-medical-services.
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Observational Study
Increasing emergency number utilisation is not driven by low-acuity calls: an observational study of 1.5 million emergency calls (2018-2021) from Berlin.
The Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in Germany is increasingly challenged by strongly rising demand. Speculations about a greater utilisation for minor cases have led to intensive media coverage, but empirical evidence is lacking. We investigated the development of low-acuity calls from 2018 to 2021 in the federal state of Berlin and its correlations with sociodemographic characteristics. ⋯ This analysis provides valuable new insights into pre-hospital emergency care. Low-acuity calls were not the primary driver of increased EMS utilisation in Berlin. Younger age is the strongest predictor for low-acuity calls in the model. The association with female gender is significant, while socially deprived neighbourhoods play a minor role. No statistically significant differences in call volume between densely and less densely populated regions were detected. The results can inform the EMS in future resource planning.
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The battalion aid station (BAS) has historically served as the first stop during which combat casualties would receive care beyond a combat medic. Since the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, many combat casualties have bypassed the BAS for treatment facilities capable of surgery. We describe the care provided at these treatment facilities during 2007-2020. ⋯ The BAS was once a critical point in casualty evacuation and treatment. Within our dataset, the overall number of encounters that involved a stop at a BAS facility was low. For both the asymmetric battlefield and multidomain operations/large-scale combat operations, the current model would benefit from a more robust capability to include storage of blood, ventilators, and monitoring and hold patients for an undetermined amount of time.
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Observational Study
Prehospital Trauma Scoring Systems for Evaluation of Trauma Severity and Prediction of Outcomes.
Trauma scoring systems in prehospital settings are supposed to ensure the most appropriate in-hospital treatment of the injured. ⋯ MGAP and GAP, in prehospital settings, had higher sensitivity and specificity when identifying patients with a severe trauma and predicting an unfavorable outcome than other scoring systems.