Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran.
MSc student of Emergency Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery,Tehran University of Medical Sciences,Tehran, Iran.
J Emerg Med. 2024 Nov;67(5):e475-e485. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2024.07.008. Epub 2024 Aug 10.
Time indices are key elements in prehospital medical emergencies. The number of calls to Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and the number of missions they have undertaken have been impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic.
This study's goal was to evaluate prehospital EMS time indices at the apex of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Data were extracted retrospectively from the Asayar Automation System, which records details on all emergency medical calls resulting in patient transport. The study period was from March 2018 to March 2021, covering the pre-COVID period and the first through sixth peaks of the pandemic in Iran. Standardized data extraction procedures were used to minimize bias in this retrospective review.
In this study, most transport missions occurred during the fifth peak (n = 2811). In addition, the most missions were related to the age group above 60 years (31.1%), and the highest rate of patient transport (65.9%) was observed in male patients. Traumatic events, cardiac emergencies, impaired consciousness, and psychiatric disorders were, respectively, the main causes of patient transport. Moreover, a significant difference was observed between time indices of various COVID-19 peaks (p < 0.001).
Even though the structure of Iran's emergency system is based on the American-Anglo model, and rapid patient transfers to medical facilities are prioritized, the COVID-19 epidemic resulted in increased calls and missions and affected time indices. Therefore, it is suggested that the method and type of service provision be modified during similar crises.
时间指标是院前医疗急救的关键要素。由于 COVID-19 疫情的影响，紧急医疗服务（EMS）的呼叫次数和执行的任务数量有所减少。
本研究旨在评估 COVID-19 爆发高峰期的院前 EMS 时间指标。
从记录所有导致患者转运的紧急医疗呼叫详细信息的 Asayar 自动化系统中提取数据。研究期间为 2018 年 3 月至 2021 年 3 月，涵盖了 COVID-19 之前的时期和伊朗疫情的前五波高峰。采用标准化的数据提取程序，以最大限度地减少回顾性研究中的偏倚。
在本研究中，大多数转运任务发生在第五波高峰（n = 2811）。此外，大多数任务与 60 岁以上年龄组有关（31.1%），男性患者的转运率最高（65.9%）。创伤性事件、心脏紧急情况、意识障碍和精神障碍分别是导致患者转运的主要原因。此外，不同 COVID-19 高峰期的时间指标之间存在显著差异（p < 0.001）。
尽管伊朗急救系统的结构基于美国-英联邦模式，并优先考虑快速将患者转移到医疗机构，但 COVID-19 疫情导致呼叫和任务数量增加，并影响了时间指标。因此，建议在类似危机期间修改服务提供的方法和类型。
