R&D Department, North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
R&D Department, North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.
Emerg Med J. 2021 Jun;38(6):446-449. doi: 10.1136/emermed-2020-210291. Epub 2021 Apr 8.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a national lockdown was introduced on 23 March 2020. In the following weeks, emergency departments in the UK reported a reduction in attendances. We aimed to explore the incidence of emergency calls across North East England, as well as the number of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) deaths.
Data were collected for all patients who contacted North East Ambulance Service between 4 March 2019-2 June 2019 and 2 March 2020-31 May 2020 suffering stroke, ST elevation myocardial infarction, allergy, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, falls, intoxication, seizure, sepsis, acute coronary syndrome and OHCA.
There were a reduction in incidence of calls, excluding OHCA, resulting in ambulance activation during the pandemic compared with same period in 2019, 16 743 versus 19 639, respectively (-14.74%). The decline in calls was partially reversed by the end of May 2020. Incidence of OHCA at the time of the national lockdown had increased by 13.79% with a peak increase of 73.56% in the second week in April 2020. OHCA deaths peaked in the first 2 weeks in April 2020, 95.65% and 90.07%, respectively, but by the end May 2020, incidence of OHCA and OHCA deaths had returned to prelockdown levels.
Incidence of emergency calls were reduced during the pandemic compared with 2019. There was a rise in incidence of OHCA and OHCA deaths during the same period; however, these changes appear transient. Further research is required to understand patient behaviour towards seeking help during the pandemic and the long-term consequences of not doing so.
为应对 COVID-19 大流行，英国于 2020 年 3 月 23 日实施了全国封锁。在接下来的几周内，英国的急诊部门报告就诊人数减少。我们旨在探讨英格兰东北部的紧急呼叫发生率，以及院外心脏骤停 (OHCA) 死亡人数。
收集了 2019 年 3 月 4 日至 6 月 2 日和 2020 年 3 月 2 日至 5 月 31 日期间因中风、ST 段抬高型心肌梗死、过敏、哮喘、慢性阻塞性肺疾病、跌倒、中毒、癫痫发作、败血症、急性冠状动脉综合征和 OHCA 而联系东北救护服务的所有患者的病例数据。
与 2019 年同期相比，大流行期间除 OHCA 外的呼叫发生率（导致救护车出动）有所下降，分别为 16743 例和 19639 例（-14.74%）。到 2020 年 5 月底，呼叫数量的下降趋势有所逆转。全国封锁期间 OHCA 的发生率增加了 13.79%，2020 年 4 月第二周的增幅达到了 73.56%。OHCA 死亡人数在 2020 年 4 月的前两周达到峰值，分别为 95.65%和 90.07%，但到 2020 年 5 月底，OHCA 和 OHCA 死亡人数已恢复到封锁前的水平。
与 2019 年相比，大流行期间急诊呼叫的发生率有所下降。同期 OHCA 和 OHCA 死亡人数有所增加；然而，这些变化似乎是暂时的。需要进一步研究以了解大流行期间患者寻求帮助的行为以及不这样做的长期后果。
