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Responding to incidents involving geriatric patients presents multiple challenges and considerations for care. A variety of changes occur to the human anatomy, the physiological functions of the body and emotional state as an individual ages. Understanding these changes, their effect on medication administration and treatment options is important for the EMS provider. The elderly represent a rapidly growing segment of our prehospital patient population. More people will reach age 65 by 2020 than at any other time in the world's history. Many of these individuals will present to the EMS system in need of emergency care and may have multiple chronic conditions that will complicate your patient assessment and available treatment options. Knowing the relationship between aging and a patient's overall health provides the best basis for treating this precious population.

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OBJECTIVE: This study describes emergency medical services (EMS) responses for children with special health care needs (CSHCN) in an urban area over a one-year period. METHODS: A prospective surveillance system was established to identify EMS responses for children, 21 years of age or younger, with a congenital or acquired condition or a chronic physical or mental illness. Responses related to the special health care needs of the child were compared with unrelated responses. RESULTS: During a one-year period, 924 responses were identified. Fewer than half of the responses were related to the child's special health care need. Younger children were significantly more likely to have a response related to their special needs than older children. Among related responses, seizure disorder was the most common diagnosis, while asthma was more common for unrelated responses. Almost 58% of the responses resulted in transport of the child to a hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Emergency medical services responses related to a child's special health care needs differ from unrelated responses. The most common special health care needs of children did not require treatment beyond the prehospital care provider's usual standard of care. These results are relevant for communities providing EMS services for CSHCN.

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A widely diverse body of information exists on the use of Advanced Life Support procedures by prehospital personnel. We compared and contrasted the literature that currently exists on this topic. We examined methodologies, results, and conclusions for each article. We also stress the need for critical clinical evaluations in this arena.

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EMS systems are about to undergo a major transformation. Not only will the scope of EMS change, but many experts believe that it will dramatically expand. Some see the "expanded scope" as entailing relatively limited changes, whereas others consider them to be more broad. Although no agreement is evident about the definition for expanded-scope EMS, it is hoped that all EMS professionals can agree that it must be implemented in a manner that can be carefully evaluated to determine its effects on patients and EMS systems. We present a framework for evaluating the effect of expanded-scope EMS in the various types of systems that currently exist. Special consideration must be given to the indirect effects that system changes may have on survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Numerous issues will affect our ability to properly assess expanded-scope EMS. The basic research models necessary to assess the impact of system change are lacking. Few EMS systems consistently produce significant volumes of good systems research ... that is, there are few "EMS laboratories." Cost-effectiveness and issues surrounding the "societal value" of EMS remain essentially unstudied. Reliable scoring methods, severity scales, and outcome measures are lacking: and, it is ethically and logistically difficult to justify withholding the "standard of care" in an effort to understand the impact of EMS interventions. Despite all of these barriers, it is time to pay the price of doing methodologically sound evaluations that ensure the most optimal societal impact by the EMS systems of the future.

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BACKGROUND: Unlike previous studies in an urban environment, this study examines traumatic death in a geographically diverse county in the southwestern United States. METHODS: All deaths from blunt and penetrating trauma between November 15, 1991, and November 14, 1993, were included. As many as 150 variables were collected on each patient, including time of injury and time of death. Initial identification of cases was through manual review of death records. Information was supplemented by review of hospital records, case reports, and prehospital encounter forms. RESULTS: A total of 710 traumatic deaths were analyzed. Approximately half of the victims, 52%, were pronounced dead at the scene. Of the 48% who were hospitalized, the most frequent mechanism of injury was a fall. Neurologic dysfunction was the most common cause of death. Two distinct peaks of time were found on analysis: 23% of patients died within the first 60 minutes, and 35% of patients died at 24 to 48 hours after injury. CONCLUSIONS: Although there appears to continue to be a trimodal distribution of trauma deaths in urban environments, we found the distribution to be bimodal in an environment with a higher ratio of blunt to penetrating trauma.

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STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether helmeted bicyclists are more compliant with traffic regulations than nonhelmeted bicyclists. METHODS: This prospective observational study, using a convenience sample, was conducted during daylight hours at three separate intersections, marked with legal stop signs, near the campus of a major university. Data collected included helmet use, legal hand signal use to indicate a turn or stop, and whether the bicyclist came to a complete stop before proceeding through the intersection. RESULTS: A total of 1,793 bicyclists were evaluated. Only 8.8% of the bicycle riders were wearing helmets. Helmeted bicyclists were 2.6 times more likely than nonhelmeted bicyclists to make legal stops (P < .000001; odds ratio [OR], 3.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.1 to 4.6). They were also 7.1 times more likely to use hand signals (P < .000001; OR, 7.2; 95% CI, 2.8 to 18.2). CONCLUSION: Helmeted bicycle riders showed a significantly greater compliance with two traffic laws than nonhelmeted bicyclists. They were 2.6 times more likely to stop at stop signs and 7.1 times more likely to use legal hand signals. This very strong association of helmet use with safer riding habits has implications for injury-control efforts aimed at preventing bicycle-related injuries.

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Out-of-hospital emergency care was designed around the concept of a system of interrelated events that combine to offer a patient the best care possible outside the hospital. However, in contrast to the actual operations of emergency medical service (EMS) systems, research has not typically used systems-based models as the method for evaluation. In this discussion we outline the weaknesses of component-based research models in EMS evaluation and attempt to provide a "systems-analysis" framework that can be used for future research. Incorporation of this multidiscipline approach into EMS research is essential if there is to be any hope of finding answers to many of the important questions that remain in the arena of out-of-hospital health care.

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STUDY OBJECTIVE: To compare the risk of infection for i.v. lines placed in the prehospital versus in the in-hospital setting in a midsized emergency medical service system. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis was made of all i.v. line site infections among patients admitted to ward beds from a university hospital emergency department in 1992. METHODS: The hospital's infection control team conducted daily ward rounds and a surveillance of all wound and blood cultures. Patients with signs and/or symptoms consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for skin and soft tissue infection were reported to the responsible medical team. Infections were documented based on consensus opinion between the infection control team and the physicians responsible for the care of the patient. IV lines placed in the prehospital phase of care were identified by electronic retrieval from the prehospital database. RESULTS: Three thousand one hundred eighty-five patients who had a prehospital or an in-hospital i.v. line placed were admitted from the ED. Eight hundred fifty-nine i.v. lines were prehospital placed (27%), and 2,326 were in-hospital placed (73%). There was one infection in the prehospital group and four in the in-hospital group (infection rate: .0012 for prehospital patients and .0017 for in-hospital patients; P = .591 by Fisher's exact test). CONCLUSION: Both cohorts had exceptionally low infection rates. No clinically or statistically significant increase in the risk of infection among prehospital- or in-hospital-initiated i.v. lines was identified.

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STUDY OBJECTIVE: To examine if a relationship exists between bicycle-related injuries, consumption of alcohol, helmet use, and medical resource utilization. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study with data from emergency department, operating room, and inpatient records. SETTING: University-based trauma center in a medium-sized metropolitan area. TYPE OF PARTICIPANTS: Adult victims (age > or = 18 years) of bicycle-related injury presenting to the emergency department. A total of 350 patients made up the study population. RESULTS: Group 1 consisted of 29 patients (8.3%) with detectable blood alcohol levels at the time of the incident. Group 2 (321 patients) had a measured blood alcohol level of 0 or no clinical indication of alcohol consumption. Group 1 mean Injury Severity Score was 10.3, with six (20.7%) sustaining at least one severe anatomic injury. Group 2 had an Injury Severity Score of 3.3 (p < 0.0001), with only 4.4% (p = 0.0013) sustaining severe anatomic injury. Mean length of hospitalization for group 1 was 3.5 days, including a mean of 1.4 intensive care unit days. Mean hospitalization (0.5 days, p < 0.0001) and intensive care unit (0.1 days, p < 0.0001) were significantly lower in group 2. Mean combined hospital and physician charges were more than six times greater for group 1 ($7,206) than group 2 patients ($1170, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: In patients presenting with bicycle-related injuries, prior consumption of alcohol is highly associated with greater injury severity, longer hospitalization, and higher health care costs. This information is useful in the development of injury prevention strategies to decrease incidence and severity of adult bicycle injuries.

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STUDY HYPOTHESIS: Emergency medical services personnel are highly proficient at rapid i.v. line placement in the prehospital setting, with little difference between urban and nonurban areas in a geographically diverse state. DESIGN: Prospective evaluation by an in-field observer of timing, sequence, success rates, and patient characteristics for IV line placement by prehospital personnel for 1 year. SETTING: Twenty advanced life support agencies from all four emergency medical service regions of Arizona. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-eight patients encountered by participating emergency medical service agencies who had at least one i.v. line placement attempt in the prehospital setting. RESULTS: Urban agencies encountered 24 patients (41.4%), and nonurban agencies encountered 34 (58.6%). Fifty-seven of 58 patients (98.3%) had at least one successful i.v. line started before arrival at a hospital. All 24 urban patients and 33 of 34 nonurban patients (97.1%) had a successful i.v. line attempt (P = .586, power = .09). In the urban setting, 24 of 31 attempts (77.4%) were successful, and in the nonurban setting 35 of 52 attempts (67.3%) were successful (P = .464, power = .28). Mean i.v. line procedure intervals were 1.6 minutes in urban and 1.4 minutes in nonurban settings (P = .408, power = .7). Thirty of 31 i.v. line attempts (96.7%) were completed in less than 4 minutes in urban systems, and 49 of 52 IV line attempts (94.2%) were completed in less than 4 minutes in nonurban systems (P = .520, power = .13). Mean i.v. line procedure intervals were 1.3 minutes for successful attempts and 2.1 minutes for unsuccessful ones (P = .015). Mean i.v. line procedure intervals for on-scene attempts were 1.3 minutes compared with 2.0 minutes for attempts during transport (P = .005). On average, i.v. line attempts in trauma patients took only 1.0 minutes compared with 1.7 in medical patients (P = .017). CONCLUSION: Personnel in the 20 advanced life support agencies studied were extremely adept (rate of 98.3%) at obtaining i.v. line access in the prehospital setting. The time required to complete i.v. line placement was very short, and little difference was noted between urban and nonurban providers. I.v. procedure intervals were shorter for successful attempts, on-scene attempts, and attempts in trauma patients compared with their counterparts.

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STUDY OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a new time interval model for evaluating operational and patient care issues in emergency medical service (EMS) systems. DESIGN/SETTING/TYPE OF PARTICIPANT: Prospective analysis of 300 EMS responses among 20 advanced life support agencies throughout an entire state by direct, in-field observation. RESULTS: Mean times (minutes) were response, 6.8; patient access, 1.0; initial assessment, 3.3; scene treatment, 4.4; patient removal, 5.5; transport, 11.7; delivery, 3.5; and recovery, 22.9. The largest component of the on-scene interval was patient removal. Scene treatment accounted for only 31.0% of the on-scene interval, whereas accessing and removing patients took nearly half of the on-scene interval (45.8%). Operational problems (eg, communications, equipment, uncooperative patient) increased patient removal (6.4 versus 4.5; P = .004), recovery (25.4 versus 20.2; P = .03), and out-of-service (43.0 versus 30.1; P = .007) intervals. Rural agencies had longer response (9.9 versus 6.4; P = .014), transport (21.9 versus 10.3; P < .0005), and recovery (29.8 versus 22.1; P = .049) interval than nonrural. The total on-scene interval was longer if an IV line was attempted at the scene (17.2 versus 12.2; P < .0001). This reflected an increase in scene treatment (9.2 versus 2.8; P < .0001), while patient access and patient removal remained unchanged. However, the time spent attempting IV lines at the scene accounted for only a small part of scene treatment (1.3 minutes; 14.1%) and an even smaller portion of the overall on-scene interval (7.6%). Most of the increase in scene treatment was accounted for by other activities than the IV line attempts. CONCLUSION: A new model reported and studied prospectively is useful as an evaluative research tool for EMS systems and is broadly applicable to many settings in a demographically diverse state. This model can provide accurate information to system researchers, medical directors, and administrators for altering and improving EMS systems.

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STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship among injury severity, prehospital procedures, and time spent at the scene by paramedics for victims of major trauma. DESIGN: Retrospective study of 98 consecutive patients with an Injury Severity Score of more than 15 who were brought to a trauma center by fire department paramedics. SETTING: A medium-sized metropolitan emergency medical services (EMS) system and a Level I trauma center. RESULTS: There were 66 male and 32 female patients with a mean age of 34 years. Thirty-two patients (32.6%) died. Blunt and penetrating trauma accounted for 68.4% and 31.6% of cases, respectively. Thirty-three patients (33.7%) had successful advanced airway procedures, and 81 (82.7%) had at least one IV line started in the field. Analysis of scene time, prehospital procedures, and injury severity parameters revealed that more procedures were performed in the field on the more severely injured cases; that despite this, there was a trend toward shorter scene time for more severely injured patients; and that there was a mean scene time of 8.1 minutes. This is the shortest scene time reported to date for prehospital trauma care in an EMS system. CONCLUSION: Extremely short scene times can be attained without foregoing potentially life-saving advanced life support interventions in an urban EMS system with strong medical control. In such a system, the most severely injured victims may spend less time at the scene although more procedures are performed on them.

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To evaluate the impact of helmet use on injury severity, patient information was prospectively obtained for all bicyclists involved in collisions with motor vehicles seen at a level-I trauma center from January 1986 to January 1989. Two hundred ninety-eight patients were evaluated; in 284 (95.3%, study group) cases there was documentation of helmet use or nonuse. One hundred sixteen patients (40.9%) wore helmets and 168 (59.1%) did not. One hundred ninety-nine patients (70.1%) had an ISS less than 15, while 85 (29.9%) were severely injured (ISS greater than 15). Only 5.2% of helmet users (6/116) had an ISS greater than 15 compared with 47.0% (79/168) of nonusers (p less than 0.0001). The mean ISS for helmet users was 3.8 compared with 18.0 for nonusers (p less than 0.0001). Mortality was higher for nonusers (10/168, 6.0%) than for helmet users (1/116, 0.9%; p less than 0.025). A striking finding was noted when the group of patients without major head injuries (246) was analyzed separately. Helmet users in this group still had a much lower mean ISS (3.6 vs. 12.9, p less than 0.001) and were much less likely to have an ISS greater than 15 (4.4% vs. 32.1%, p less than 0.0001) than were nonusers. In this group, 42 of 47 patients with an ISS greater than 15 (89.4%) were not wearing helmets. We conclude that helmet nonuse is strongly associated with severe injuries in this study population. This is true even when the patients without major head injuries are analyzed as a group; a finding to our knowledge not previously described.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate emergency medical services (EMS) system use, injury mechanisms, and prehospital assessments among elderly victims of trauma. DESIGN: We analyzed all prehospital data for injuries among patients 70 years old or older for whom 911 EMS dispatch was requested in a medium-sized metropolitan area during a 12-month period. RESULTS: A total of 1,154 cases occurred (women, 65.1%), which represented 30.3% of all 911 dispatches involving elderly patients. Injury mechanisms were fall (60.7%), motor vehicle accident (MVA; 21.5%), fight (2.4%), accidental poisoning (2.3%), and choking (2.1%). Persons in their 90s had a lower frequency of MVAs (3.4%) than did younger patients (23.0%) (P less than .005). The most frequent injuries determined by prehospital assessment were head or face (25.1%), upper extremity (17.2%), hip (14.5%), lower extremity (13.8%), back (9.8%), and chest or abdomen (5.0%). The frequency of serious neurologic injuries was less for falls or MVAs than for other mechanisms (P less than .005). Suspected hip (P less than .001) and pelvic (P less than .005) injuries occurred more frequently during falls than during other mechanisms of injury, whereas back injuries occurred most frequently in MVAs (P less than .001). Seventy-one fall victims (10.1%) had suspected medical causes of their fall. Twelve patients (1.0%) were in cardiac arrest. CONCLUSION: We report injury patterns and mechanisms among elderly victims of trauma presenting to an EMS system. A knowledge of these patterns will be useful to emergency physicians and EMS administrators.

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STUDY OBJECTIVES: 1) Identification of marginal costs associated with prehospital resuscitation of cardiopulmonary arrest; 2) Determination of cost effectiveness for such resuscitation; and 3) Comparison of cost effectiveness of paramedic care with selected other medical interventions. DESIGN: Retrospective review of 190 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. SETTING: City limits of a midsized southwestern city. The events studied took place outside of medical facilities. TYPE OF PARTICIPANTS: Victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest for whom the EMS system was activated by a 911 telephone request for emergency medical assistance. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The cost, including training, personnel, equipment, and response time maintenance, per year of life saved was found to be $8,886.00 for paramedic care. This result was compared with published cost-effectiveness figures for heart transplantation, liver transplantation, bone marrow transplantation, and chemotherapy for acute leukemia. Paramedic care was more cost effective, as measured by cost per year of life saved, than organ transplantation and chemotherapy for acute leukemia. CONCLUSION: Out-of-hospital treatment by paramedics of cardiopulmonary arrest is more cost effective than heart, liver, bone marrow transplantation, or curative chemotherapy for acute leukemia.

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To evaluate the effect of banning alcohol on the incidence of injuries and illness among spectators, we reviewed 4 years (1983 to 1986) of medical incident reports from a major collegiate football stadium. At no time had alcoholic beverages been sold inside the stadium, but before 1985, fans were allowed to bring alcohol into the stadium. In 1985, this practice was banned. During the study period, 340 medical incidents (M = 12.6/game) were reported. Several alterations of specific injury/illness patterns were noted after initiation of the ban: heat-related illness occurred more frequently before initiation of the ban, whereas extremity injuries and syncope (fainting from coronary insufficiency) occurred with greater frequency afterwards. The injury/illness rates per 10,000 fans were 2.95 in 1983, 2.45 in 1984, 1.92 in 1985, and 3.48 in 1986. There was no significant change in the overall incident rate after the ban. Evaluation of medical incidents revealed an alteration in specific injury/illness patterns but no change in overall incidence after institution of the ban. Future investigations are needed to elucidate more clearly the impact of banning alcohol on injury/illness rates and patterns at mass gatherings.

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