Cargando…

The Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Emergency Medical Service: An Analysis of Patient Transportations and Time Intervals

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak on the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) system in South Korea. The study focused on the differences in EMS time intervals following the COVID-19 outbreak, particularly for patients with fever. M...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Park, Yong Joo, Song, Kyoung Jun, Hong, Ki Jeong, Park, Jeong Ho, Kim, Tae Han, Kim, Young Su, Lee, Seung Hyo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10615634/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37904654
http://dx.doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e317
_version_ 1785129264858791936
author Park, Yong Joo
Song, Kyoung Jun
Hong, Ki Jeong
Park, Jeong Ho
Kim, Tae Han
Kim, Young Su
Lee, Seung Hyo
author_facet Park, Yong Joo
Song, Kyoung Jun
Hong, Ki Jeong
Park, Jeong Ho
Kim, Tae Han
Kim, Young Su
Lee, Seung Hyo
author_sort Park, Yong Joo
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak on the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) system in South Korea. The study focused on the differences in EMS time intervals following the COVID-19 outbreak, particularly for patients with fever. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of EMS patient transportation data from 2017 to 2022 was conducted using the national EMS database. RESULTS: Starting from the year 2020, coinciding with the COVID-19 outbreak, all EMS time intervals experienced an increase. For the years 2017 to 2022, the mean response time interval values were 8.6, 8.6, 8.6, 10.2, 12.8, and 11.4 minutes, and the mean scene time interval values were 7.1, 7.2, 7.4, 9.0, 9.8, and 10.9 minutes. The mean transport time interval (TTI) values were 12.1, 12.3, 12.4, 14.2, 16.9, and 16.2 minutes, and the mean turnaround time interval values were 27.6, 27.9, 28.7, 35.2, 42.0, and 43.1 minutes. Fever (≥ 37.5°C) patients experienced more pronounced prolongations in EMS time intervals compared to non-fever patients and had a higher probability of being non-transported. The mean differences in TTI between fever and non-fever patients were 0.8, 0.8, 0.8, 4.3, 4.8, and 3.2 minutes, respectively, from 2017 to 2022. Furthermore, the odds ratios for fever patients being transported to the emergency department were 2.7, 2.9, 2.8, 1.1, 0.8, and 0.7, respectively, from 2017 to 2022. CONCLUSION: The study findings highlight the significant impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the EMS system and emphasize the importance of ongoing monitoring to evaluate the burden on the EMS system.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10615634
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-106156342023-11-01 The Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Emergency Medical Service: An Analysis of Patient Transportations and Time Intervals Park, Yong Joo Song, Kyoung Jun Hong, Ki Jeong Park, Jeong Ho Kim, Tae Han Kim, Young Su Lee, Seung Hyo J Korean Med Sci Original Article BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak on the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) system in South Korea. The study focused on the differences in EMS time intervals following the COVID-19 outbreak, particularly for patients with fever. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of EMS patient transportation data from 2017 to 2022 was conducted using the national EMS database. RESULTS: Starting from the year 2020, coinciding with the COVID-19 outbreak, all EMS time intervals experienced an increase. For the years 2017 to 2022, the mean response time interval values were 8.6, 8.6, 8.6, 10.2, 12.8, and 11.4 minutes, and the mean scene time interval values were 7.1, 7.2, 7.4, 9.0, 9.8, and 10.9 minutes. The mean transport time interval (TTI) values were 12.1, 12.3, 12.4, 14.2, 16.9, and 16.2 minutes, and the mean turnaround time interval values were 27.6, 27.9, 28.7, 35.2, 42.0, and 43.1 minutes. Fever (≥ 37.5°C) patients experienced more pronounced prolongations in EMS time intervals compared to non-fever patients and had a higher probability of being non-transported. The mean differences in TTI between fever and non-fever patients were 0.8, 0.8, 0.8, 4.3, 4.8, and 3.2 minutes, respectively, from 2017 to 2022. Furthermore, the odds ratios for fever patients being transported to the emergency department were 2.7, 2.9, 2.8, 1.1, 0.8, and 0.7, respectively, from 2017 to 2022. CONCLUSION: The study findings highlight the significant impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the EMS system and emphasize the importance of ongoing monitoring to evaluate the burden on the EMS system. The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences 2023-09-19 /pmc/articles/PMC10615634/ /pubmed/37904654 http://dx.doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e317 Text en © 2023 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Article
Park, Yong Joo
Song, Kyoung Jun
Hong, Ki Jeong
Park, Jeong Ho
Kim, Tae Han
Kim, Young Su
Lee, Seung Hyo
The Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Emergency Medical Service: An Analysis of Patient Transportations and Time Intervals
title The Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Emergency Medical Service: An Analysis of Patient Transportations and Time Intervals
title_full The Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Emergency Medical Service: An Analysis of Patient Transportations and Time Intervals
title_fullStr The Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Emergency Medical Service: An Analysis of Patient Transportations and Time Intervals
title_full_unstemmed The Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Emergency Medical Service: An Analysis of Patient Transportations and Time Intervals
title_short The Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Emergency Medical Service: An Analysis of Patient Transportations and Time Intervals
title_sort impact of the covid-19 outbreak on emergency medical service: an analysis of patient transportations and time intervals
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10615634/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37904654
http://dx.doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e317
work_keys_str_mv AT parkyongjoo theimpactofthecovid19outbreakonemergencymedicalserviceananalysisofpatienttransportationsandtimeintervals
AT songkyoungjun theimpactofthecovid19outbreakonemergencymedicalserviceananalysisofpatienttransportationsandtimeintervals
AT hongkijeong theimpactofthecovid19outbreakonemergencymedicalserviceananalysisofpatienttransportationsandtimeintervals
AT parkjeongho theimpactofthecovid19outbreakonemergencymedicalserviceananalysisofpatienttransportationsandtimeintervals
AT kimtaehan theimpactofthecovid19outbreakonemergencymedicalserviceananalysisofpatienttransportationsandtimeintervals
AT kimyoungsu theimpactofthecovid19outbreakonemergencymedicalserviceananalysisofpatienttransportationsandtimeintervals
AT leeseunghyo theimpactofthecovid19outbreakonemergencymedicalserviceananalysisofpatienttransportationsandtimeintervals
AT parkyongjoo impactofthecovid19outbreakonemergencymedicalserviceananalysisofpatienttransportationsandtimeintervals
AT songkyoungjun impactofthecovid19outbreakonemergencymedicalserviceananalysisofpatienttransportationsandtimeintervals
AT hongkijeong impactofthecovid19outbreakonemergencymedicalserviceananalysisofpatienttransportationsandtimeintervals
AT parkjeongho impactofthecovid19outbreakonemergencymedicalserviceananalysisofpatienttransportationsandtimeintervals
AT kimtaehan impactofthecovid19outbreakonemergencymedicalserviceananalysisofpatienttransportationsandtimeintervals
AT kimyoungsu impactofthecovid19outbreakonemergencymedicalserviceananalysisofpatienttransportationsandtimeintervals
AT leeseunghyo impactofthecovid19outbreakonemergencymedicalserviceananalysisofpatienttransportationsandtimeintervals