Citation

McManamny TE, Dwyer R, Cantwell K, Boyd L, Sheen J, Smith K, Lowthian JA. Australas. J. Ageing 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Australian Council on the Ageing, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/ajag.12960

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe the demographic profile and clinical case mix of older adults following calls for an emergency ambulance in rural Victoria, Australia.

METHODS: Retrospective cohort study using ambulance electronic patient care records from rural-dwelling older adults (≥65 years old) who requested emergency ambulance attendance during 2017.

RESULTS: A total of 84 785 older adults requested emergency ambulance attendance, representing a rate of 278 per 1000 population aged ≥65 years. More than 10% of calls were to residential aged care homes. Medical complaints and trauma accounted for 69% and 18% of attendances, respectively. The predominant cause of trauma was ground-level falls. Common reasons for call-outs were for pain (17.5%), respiratory problems (9.7%) and cardiovascular problems (8.5%). Increased demand was associated with increasing age and winter months.

CONCLUSION: Older adults from rural Victoria have high rates of emergency ambulance attendance and transportation to an emergency department, particularly with increasing age.

Language: en

Keywords

aged; pain; ambulances; demography; rural population