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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: Prehosp Emerg Care. 2020 Jan 7;24(5):672–682. doi: 10.1080/10903127.2019.1699211

Table 2:

Demographics, EMS Encounter, Vital Signs, and EMS-Administered Medications and Procedures for EMSTARS patients < 1 day and ≤ 18 years, 2011–2016

Variable Overall N=446,274 Missing Closest Facility N=208,323 Other^ N=237,951 p value
Patient Demographics

Gender – Male 217,545 (48.8%) 259 (<1%) 102,546 (47.1%) 114,999 (52.9%) < 0.0001

Race 36,847 (8.3%)
 White 194,674 (43.6%) 92,404 (44.3%) 102,270 (43.0%) < 0.00011
 Black or African American 143,090 (32%) 63,666 (30.6%) 79,424 (33.4%)
 Other2 71,663 (16.1%) 34,698 (16.7%) 36,965 (15.5%)

Ethnicity – Not Hispanic or Latino3 291,462 (65.3%) 89,567 (20.1%) 135,699 (65.1%) 155,763 (65.5%) 0.024

Age in years, Median (IQR) 11 (3–16) 0 12 (4–16) 10 (3–16) < 0.0001

Age < 5 years 133,966 (30.0%) 0 57,374 (27.5%) 76,592 (32.2%) < 0.0001

Age < 10 years 199,299 (44.7%) 0 86,972 (41.7%) 112,327 (47.2%) < 0.0001

Age < 15 years 260,921 (58.5%) 0 115,513 (55.4%) 145,408 (61.1%) < 0.0001

EMS Encounter Characteristics

Incident at Home / Residence4 202,768 (45.4%) 21,712 (4.9%) 87,630 (42.1%) 115,138 (48.4%) < 0.0001

EMS Response Mode to Scene: Lights and Sirens5 360,274 (79.0%) 0 165,119 (79.3%) 195,155 (82.0%) < 0.0001

EMS Transport Mode from Scene: Lights and Sirens5 177,762 (39.8%) 0 82,492 (39.6%) 95,270 (40.0%) 0.0028

Time Intervals in Minutes6 Median (IQR)
  EMS Arrival 5.8 (4 – 8.1) 803 (<1%) 5 (3.8 – 8) 6 (4 – 9) < 0.0001
  Scene 12 (8 – 16) 911 (<1%) 12 (8 – 16) 12 (8 – 16) 0.27
  Transport 13 (8.3 – 20) 428 (<1%) 11.3 (7.8 – 17) 15 (9.5 – 23) < 0.0001
  ED Turnaround 19 (13 – 27) 1023 (<1%) 19 (12.7 – 26) 20 (13.7 – 28) < 0.0001

Possible Injury – Yes 130,369 (29.2%) 259 (<1%) 62,042 (29.8%) 68,327 (28.7%) < 0.0001

Vital Sign7

Heart Rate (Mean (SD)) 109.5 (28.9) 4,353 (<1%) 107.8 (28.5) 110.9 (29.2) < 0.0001
  Tachycardia 138,600 (31.1%) 63,118 (30.3%) 75,482 (31.7%) < 0.0001

Respiratory Rate (Mean (SD)) 22.2 (9.9) 11,226 (2.5%) 21.9 (10.1) 22.5 (9.7) < 0.0001
  Tachypnea 75,415 (16.9%) 34,209 (16.4%) 41,206 (17.3%) < 0.0001

Pulse Oximetry (Median (IQR)) 99 (98–100) 41,553 (9.3%) 99 (98–100) 99 (98–100) < 0.0001

Glasgow Coma Score (Median (IQR)) 15 (15–15) 31,206 (7%) 15 (15–15) 15 (15–15) < 0.0001
  <15 59,712 (13.4%) 26,487 (12.7%) 33,225 (14.0%) < 0.0001
  <14 46,428 (10.4%) 20,133 (9.7%) 26,295 (11.1%) < 0.0001

Systolic Blood Pressure (Mean (SD)) 119.2 (21.8) 65,650 (14.7%) 119.8 (21.1) 118.7 (22.4) < 0.0001
  <90 16,086 (3.6%) 6,765 (3.2%) 9,321 (3.9%) < 0.0001
  <80 7,634 (1.7%) 3,098 (1.5%) 4,536 (1.9%) < 0.0001

Diastolic Blood Pressure (Mean (SD)) 74.5 (16) 77,543 (17.4%) 74.9 (15.4) 74.1 (16.4) < 0.0001
  <40 5,518 (1.2%) 2,142 (1.0%) 3,376 (1.4%) < 0.0001
  <30 4,042 (1.0%) 1,495 (<1%) 2,547 (1.1%) < 0.0001

EMS-Administered Medications & Procedures8

Airway Procedure 4,945 (1.1%) n/a 2,454 (1.2%) 2,491 (1.0%) < 0.0001

Other Critical Procedure 5207 (1.2%) n/a 2,760 (1.3%) 2,447 (1.0%) < 0.0001

Contact Medical Control 831 (<1%) n/a 58 (<1%) 773 (<1%) < 0.0001

Resuscitation Medication 3846 (<1%) n/a 2,242 (1.1%) 1,604 (<1%) < 0.0001

Nebulized Medication 12,016 (2.7%) n/a 5,353 (2.6%) 6,663 (2.8%) < 0.0001

Benzodiazepine 2,445 (<1%) n/a 1,208 (<1%) 1,237 (<1%) 0.0067

Oxygen 68,105 (15.3%) n/a 29,175 (14.0%) 38,930 (16.4%) < 0.0001

Fluids 15,605 (3.5%) n/a 6,126 (2.9%) 9,479 (4.0%) < 0.0001

Dextrose 636 (<1%) n/a 297 (<1%) 339 (<1%) 0.99

Pain Medication 6,240 (1.4%) n/a 2,582 (1.2%) 3,658 (1.5%) < 0.0001
^

Denotes all other destination choices besides closest facility as per Table 1, includes ‘Not Known, Not Applicable, and Not Recorded’

1

Chi Square test performed as White vs all others

2

Other includes American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and Other Race

3

Chi Square test performed as Not Hispanic or Latino vs Hispanic or Latino

4

Other includes: Bathtub, Bucket, Farm, Forest/Trail/Wilderness, Health Care Facility, Industrial Place and Premises, Lake/River/Ocean, Mine or Quarry, Other, Place of Recreation or Sport, Pool, Public Building, Railroad, Residential Institution, Spa, Street or Highway, Trade or service

5

Chi Square test done as lights and sirens versus all other modes of response/transport

6

EMS Arrival = Time from EMS unit en route to scene arrival, Scene = Time from EMS scene arrival to EMS scene departure, Transport = Time from EMS scene departure to EMS emergency department (ED) arrival, Turnaround = Time from EMS ED arrival to EMS unit back in service, Total = Time from EMS notification by dispatch to EMS unit back in service

Negative time intervals were treated as errors and classified as missing

7

Created specific for study using PALS 2019 as a reference

8

See online Supplement e1 for list of included medications and procedures