Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, 1364 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 790 Atlantic Dr, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.
Emerg Radiol. 2020 Oct;27(5):469-475. doi: 10.1007/s10140-020-01783-4. Epub 2020 May 5.
To determine the frequency, characteristics, and resource use related to the emergency department (ED) encounters resulting from electric scooter use in a major metropolitan area.
This Institutional Review Board-approved study was conducted at a four-hospital healthcare system. Our clinical data warehouse was retrospectively searched from 5/3/2018 (the date electric scooters were introduced) through 8/15/2019 for various forms of the word "scooter" in triage notes. Demographic variables, arrival mode, length of stay, disposition, and resource utilization, including diagnostic radiology, were extracted.
Over the 471-day study window, 293 unique patients presented with e-scooter injuries (0.62 mean ED visits/day). When broken down into 8-h periods, there was a significant increase (p = 0.048) from Friday after 5 PM through Sunday night. Thirty-two percent of patients arrived at the ED during (newly enacted at the time of study) nighttime e-scooter ban hours (9 PM-4 AM). There was a range of one to nine diagnostic radiology examinations per patient, with 100% (293) of patients receiving at least one diagnostic radiology examination. A total of 710 diagnostic radiology examinations were performed on the entire cohort (mean 2.4 per patient): 77.2% (548) were radiographs and 22.1% (157) were computed tomography (CT).
ED visits resulting from electric scooter injuries are common and increasing. E-scooter injury patients disproportionately present on evenings and weekends, possibly exacerbating already busy periods in the ED. Healthcare resource needs and availability should be considered when developing policy about electric scooter use and distribution, particularly involving emergency care providers in close proximity to e-scooter distribution centers.
确定在一个主要大都市区，由于使用电动滑板车而导致的急诊科（ED）就诊的频率、特征和与资源使用相关的情况。
这项经过机构审查委员会批准的研究是在一个拥有四家医院的医疗系统中进行的。我们的临床数据仓库从 2018 年 5 月 3 日（电动滑板车推出的日期）回溯到 2019 年 8 月 15 日，在分诊记录中搜索各种形式的“滑板车”一词。提取人口统计学变量、到达方式、住院时间、处置方式以及资源利用情况，包括诊断影像学。
在 471 天的研究窗口中，有 293 名因电动滑板车受伤的患者（平均每天 0.62 次 ED 就诊）。按照 8 小时时段划分，从周五下午 5 点到周日晚上（新颁布的夜间电动滑板车禁令时间为晚上 9 点至凌晨 4 点）就诊人数显著增加（p=0.048）。32%的患者在夜间电动滑板车禁令时间（当时正在研究）到达 ED。每位患者的诊断影像学检查次数为 1 至 9 次不等，100%（293 名）的患者接受了至少一次诊断影像学检查。整个队列共进行了 710 次诊断影像学检查（平均每位患者 2.4 次）：77.2%（548 次）为 X 光检查，22.1%（157 次）为计算机断层扫描（CT）。
因电动滑板车受伤而导致的 ED 就诊很常见，且呈上升趋势。电动滑板车受伤患者就诊时间主要集中在晚上和周末，这可能会使 ED 本已繁忙的时段更加紧张。在制定与电动滑板车使用和分配相关的政策时，应考虑医疗资源的需求和可用性，特别是在与电动滑板车分配中心临近的紧急护理提供者。
