Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Department of Anaesthesia & Intensive Care, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. 2024 Oct 14;32(1):102. doi: 10.1186/s13049-024-01275-1.
Calling for help is the first link in the chain of survival; however, few studies have investigated the challenges faced by frequent callers (FCs) to emergency medical communication centres (EMCCs). This study aimed to explore the characteristics of FCs and the nature of their calls to the Bergen EMCC, Norway.
This was a retrospective analysis of all emergency calls to the Bergen EMCC over three consecutive years (2019-2021). Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway, and the Bergen EMCC and ambulance services are part of the specialist medical service, covering a population of 460,000. The Bergen EMCC receives approximately 60,000 emergency calls per year. The study population comprised all adults identified during emergency medical calls. FCs were defined as individuals who registered five or more calls over 12 consecutive months during the three-year period.
The analysis included approximately 50,000 individuals, who made > 90,000 calls during the study period. Of those, 1,594 (3.2%) were FCs, accounting for approximately one in four (21,339 of 90,085, 23.7%) calls. The FCs included more men (882 of 1,594 (55.3%) vs. 24,204 of 47,564 (50.9%)) and registered a lower proportion of calls with an acute degree of urgency (6,051 of 21,339 calls (28.4%) vs. 30,276 of 68,746 calls (44.0%)). Calls from FCs showed an even occurrence throughout the week, peaking between 19:00 h and 20:00 h. Compared with calls from non-FCs, calls from FCs had a higher proportion of 'no response/verbal referral to local emergency medical department' and involved a lower proportion of hospital transfers. The EMCC most frequently used the medical criterion 'Mental health problems/suicide' for calls from FCs.
FCs were common, and more often men. The EMCC dispatched ambulances or admitted patients to hospitals less frequently following these calls. Many of these situations could be handled in other parts of the healthcare system, reducing the burden on EMCCs, and providing more suitable services for FCs. Thus, EMCCs should identify and adjust patient management to match their actual needs.
呼救是生存链的第一环节；然而，很少有研究调查频繁拨打紧急医疗通讯中心（EMCC）电话的人的挑战。本研究旨在探讨挪威卑尔根 EMCC 频繁呼叫者（FC）的特征和呼叫性质。
这是对连续三年（2019-2021 年）期间卑尔根 EMCC 所有紧急呼叫的回顾性分析。卑尔根是挪威第二大城市，卑尔根 EMCC 和救护车服务是专科医疗服务的一部分，覆盖 46 万人口。卑尔根 EMCC 每年大约接到 6 万次紧急呼叫。研究人群包括在紧急医疗电话中识别出的所有成年人。FC 被定义为在三年期间的 12 个月内登记五次或以上电话的个人。
分析包括大约 5 万人，他们在研究期间拨打了超过 9 万次电话。其中，1594 人（3.2%）为 FC，占大约四分之一（21339 次电话中的 90085 次，23.7%）。FC 中男性更多（1594 人中的 882 人[55.3%] vs. 47564 人中的 24204 人[50.9%]），拨打的紧急程度较低的电话比例也较低（21339 次电话中的 6051 次[28.4%] vs. 68746 次电话中的 30276 次[44.0%]）。FC 的呼叫在一周内均匀发生，在 19:00 至 20:00 之间达到高峰。与非 FC 呼叫相比，FC 呼叫中“无响应/口头转介到当地急诊部”的比例更高，而转院的比例更低。EMCC 最常使用“心理健康问题/自杀”这一医疗标准来处理来自 FC 的呼叫。
FC 很常见，而且通常是男性。EMCC 接到这些电话后，派遣救护车或收治住院的频率较低。这些情况中的许多可以在医疗保健系统的其他部分处理，从而减轻 EMCC 的负担，并为 FC 提供更合适的服务。因此，EMCC 应识别并调整患者管理，以满足其实际需求。
