Articles: emergency-medical-services.
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The telephone number 911 is designated for public use in requesting emergency assistance. It is thought to reduce response time by reducing the interval between the decision to call for assistance and the notification of an agency that can dispatch the appropriate services. The experience of the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minneapolis-St. ⋯ Compliance (use of an appropriate emergency number for the first call) was demonstrated by 139 of 347 callers (40%) in the pre-911 phase, and 225 of 305 callers (74%) in the post-911 phase (P less than 0.001). Rapid activation of the EMS system was rarely achieved by calling a hospital or physician first. Overall, 911 was found to be a more efficient means of activating the EMS system.
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Motor vehicle-related trauma deaths in a 21-county rural emergency medical services (EMS) system are reviewed. Injury severity scores (ISS) and Glasgow coma scores (GCS) were recorded to provide baseline data for future comparison as the system progresses. The majority of deaths (67%) were related to CNS injuries. ⋯ Those transferred from community hospitals to the regional tertiary care center had an average ISS of 36.2. Those admitted directly to the tertiary center had an ISS of 38.9. The data suggest that the rural trauma system might improve if there were training programs that promote recognition of significant injury, more aggressive resuscitation, and expeditious transfer of the injured patients.