@article{ref1,
title="The epidemiology of medical emergency contacts outside hospitals in Norway - a prospective population based study",
journal="Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine",
year="2010",
author="Zakariassen, Erik and Burman, Robert Anders and Hunskaar, Steinar",
volume="18",
number="1",
pages="9-9",
abstract="INTRODUCTION: There is a lack of epidemiological knowledge on medical emergencies outside hospitals in Norway. The aim of the present study was to obtain representative data on the epidemiology of medical emergencies classified as &quot;red responses&quot; in Norway. METHOD: Three emergency medical dispatch centres (EMCCs) were chosen as catchment areas, covering 816 000 inhabitants. During a three month period in 2007 the EMCCs gathered information on every situation that was triaged as a red response, according to The Norwegian Index of Medical Emergencies (Index). Records from ground ambulances, air ambulances, and the primary care doctors were subsequently collected. International Classification of Primary Care - 2 symptom codes (ICPC-2) and The National Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) Score System were given retrospectively. RESULTS: Total incidence of red response situations was 5 105 during the three month period. 394 patients were involved in 138 accidents, and 181 situations were without patients, resulting in a total of 5 180 patients. The patients' age ranged from 0 to 107 years, with a median age of 57, and 55 % were male. 90 % of the red responses were medical problems with a large variation of symptoms, the remainder being accidents. 70 % of the patients were in a non-life-threatening situation. Within the accident group, males accounted for 61 %, and 35 % were aged between 10 and 29 years, with a median age of 37 years. Few of the 39 chapters in the Index were used, A10 &quot;Chest pain&quot; was the most common one (22 % of all situations). ICPC-2 symptom codes showed that cardiovascular, syncope/coma, respiratory and neurological problems were most common. 50 % of all patients in a sever situation (NACA score 4-7) were > 70 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that emergency medicine based on 816 000 Norwegians mainly consists of medical problems, where the majority of the patients have a non-life-threatening situation. More focus on the emergency system outside hospitals, including triage and dispatch, and how to best deal with &quot;everyday&quot; emergency problems is needed to secure knowledge based decisions for the future organization of the emergency system.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1757-7241",
doi="10.1186/1757-7241-18-9",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1757-7241-18-9"
}