Table 2.
EMS systems data
| Description of the EMS systems | Bonn | Göppingen | Gütersloh | Marburg | Münster | Rendsburg-Eckernförde | Tübingen | P-value | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Providers | City of Bonn/fire department | EMS, district of Göppingen, Klinik am Eichert Göppingen | EMS district of Gütersloh | EMS, district of Marburg | City of Münster/fire department | EMS, district of Rendsburg-Eckernförde | EMS, DRK and ASB Tübingen | All | ||
| Vehicles | Two-tiered system | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| ALS unit (emergency physician) | Unit-hours (1/year/100,000 inhabitants) | 5,561.9 | 6,463.5 | 10,959.2 | 10,436.9 | 6,252.7 | 6,429.6 | 8,011.3 | < 0.001 | 7,773.9 |
| BLS unit | Unit-hours (1/year/100,000 inhabitants) | 26,807.6 | 18,250.0 | 25,923.0 | 43,876.9 | 16,350.5 | 32,148.2 | 24,033.8 | < 0.001 | 26,964.8 |
| ALS + BLS unit | Unit-hours (1/year/100,000 inhabitants) | 32,369.5 | 24,713.5 | 36,882.1 | 54,313.7 | 22,603.2 | 38,577.8 | 32,045.1 | < 0.001 | 34,738.6 |
| ALS + BLS unit | Unit-hours/year/area (hours/km2) | 723.1 | 134.0 | 136.5 | 108.3 | 209.1 | 48.1 | 135.0 | < 0.001 | 114.2 |
| Quality assurance | Training programme | RA + RS: 30 hours/year | RA + RS: 30 hours/year NA: 12 hours/year |
RA + RS: 30 hours/year NA: 8 hours/year |
RA + RS: 38 hours/year NA: 8 hours/year |
RA + RS: 30 hours/year NA: 4 hours/year |
RA + RS: 30 hours/year | RA + RS: 30 hours/year NA: 12 hours/year |
||
| Additional emergency physician requested by ambulance crew | 9.0 | 11.5 | 8.8 | 11.6 | 17.9 | 8.7 | 3.8 | < 0.001 | 10.5 | |
| Equipment | LDB CPR (%) | 15.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | < 0.001 | 3.6 |
| ACD CPR (%) | 4.5 | 42.6 | 0.0 | 5.5 | 7.2 | 0.0 | 6.8 | < 0.001 | 10.6 | |
| Feedback system (%) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 90.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | < 0.001 | 15.3 | |
| Prehospital cooling | Cooling of ROSC patients (%) | 72.0 | 50.3 | 40.2 | 33.3 | 64.0 | 1.0 | 7.9 | < 0.001 | 46.2 |
ACD = active compression decompression; ALS unit = NEF (Notarzteinsatzfahrzeug): emergency vehicle providing advanced life support, including an emergency physician; ASB = Arbeiter Samariter Bund; BLS unit = RTW (Rettungswagen): emergency vehicle providing basic life support and defibrillation, without an emergency physician; CPR = cardiopulmonary resuscitation; DRK = Deutsches Rotes Kruez (German Red Cross); EMS = emergency medical service; LDB = load-distributing band; NA: Notarzt = emergency physician; RA: Rettungsassistent = PM: paramedic; ROSC = return of spontaneous circulation; RS: Rettungssanitäter = EMT: emergency medical technician. P-values were calculated by t-test or χ2 test, with significance set at P < 0.05.