Department of Emergency Medicine, The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, Washington, DC 20037, USA.
Prehosp Emerg Care. 2010 Apr-Jun;14(2):182-6. doi: 10.3109/10903120903564506.
Wilderness activities continue to be popular in the United States, but may lead to both direct injuries and exacerbations or complications from chronic diseases. Appropriate response planning requires information on the type and location of emergency medical services (EMS) activations in large outdoor areas with many visitors.
To describe EMS calls in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and explore the resultant implications for EMS resources and staging, medical provider training, and potential public health interventions in similar wilderness recreation areas.
A retrospective, descriptive review was conducted of all park EMS activations in Shenandoah National Park from 2003 to 2007.
There were 335 EMS activations within the park over the study period. Both call volume and call rate increased during the study period. There were 197 calls (58.8%) for injuries and 138 (41.2%) for illnesses. Weakness/dizziness was the most frequent illness complaint, and lower extremity injury was the most frequent injury. Those with illnesses were more likely to be seen by EMS at a lodge, tended to be female, and were more likely to require emergency transportation to a hospital. Chronic medical problems were reported for twice as many of the illness patients as for those who were injured.
EMS runs in Shenandoah are increasing and the majority of calls from 2003 to 2007 were for injuries. A notable number of patients with both injuries and illnesses reported chronic medical conditions. These data may be used to help with EMS support availability planning, provider education, and safety planning within the park, and provide baseline data for future public-safety interventions.
在美国，野外活动仍然很受欢迎，但可能会导致直接受伤，或使慢性病恶化或出现并发症。适当的应急规划需要了解在访客众多的大型户外区域中紧急医疗服务 (EMS) 的激活类型和位置。
描述弗吉尼亚州谢南多厄国家公园的 EMS 呼叫，并探讨这对 EMS 资源和分期、医疗服务提供者培训以及类似野外娱乐区的潜在公共卫生干预措施的影响。
对 2003 年至 2007 年谢南多厄国家公园内的所有公园 EMS 激活进行了回顾性描述性审查。
在研究期间，该公园内共发生 335 次 EMS 激活。在研究期间，呼叫量和呼叫率均有所增加。有 197 次（58.8%）呼叫是因受伤，138 次（41.2%）呼叫是因疾病。虚弱/头晕是最常见的疾病症状，下肢受伤是最常见的受伤类型。患有疾病的人更有可能在小屋接受 EMS 治疗，他们往往是女性，更有可能需要紧急送往医院。与受伤者相比，疾病患者报告的慢性医疗问题多两倍。
谢南多厄的 EMS 运行量在增加，2003 年至 2007 年期间的大多数呼叫都是因受伤引起的。许多受伤和患病的患者都报告有慢性疾病。这些数据可用于帮助规划 EMS 支持的可用性、提供者教育和公园内的安全规划，并为未来的公共安全干预措施提供基线数据。
