Table 1.
Patient characteristics, EMS assessment and hospital assessment for patients transported to hospital
| Total | Red | Orange | Yellow | Green | P1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 4465 | n = 596 | n = 1588 | n = 1919 | n = 362 | ||
| Age – years (25th, 75th percentiles) | ||||||
| Median | 69 (45,83) | 71 (47,83) | 66 (42,81) | 71 (47,84) | 71 (48,85) | < 0.001 |
| Sex – n (%) | < 0.001 | |||||
| Female | 2319 (51.9) | 278 (46.6) | 783 (49.3) | 1040 (54.2) | 218 (60.2) | |
| Dispatcher priority – n (%) (2,5,9,2)2 | < 0.001 | |||||
| Priority 1 | 2218 (49.9) | 455 (76.6) | 926 (58.5) | 752 (39.4) | 85 (23.6) | |
| Priority 2 | 2059 (46.3) | 134 (22.6) | 628 (39.7) | 1067 (55.9) | 230 (63.9) | |
| Priority 3 | 170 (3.8) | 5 (0.8) | 29 (1.8) | 91 (4.8) | 45 (12.5) | |
| Dispatch medical index3 - n (%) (3,7,9,3)2 | ||||||
| Chest pain/cardiac disease | 651 (14.7) | 94 (15.9) | 250 (15.8) | 273 (14.3) | 34 (9.5) | 0.034 |
| Extremity/wound/minor trauma | 609 (13.7) | 12 (2.0) | 191 (12.1) | 337 (17.6) | 69 (19.2) | < 0.001 |
| Abdominal/urinary tract symptoms | 519 (11.7) | 40 (6.7) | 135 (8.5) | 312 (16.3) | 32 (8.9) | < 0.001 |
| Uncertain information/suspicion of severe illness | 476 (10.7) | 47 (7.9) | 168 (10.6) | 210 (11.0) | 51 (14.2) | 0.089 |
| Respiratory difficulties | 462 (10.4) | 152 (25.6) | 137 (8.7) | 136 (7.1) | 37 (10.3) | < 0.001 |
| Time of day – n (%) | 0.001 | |||||
| 08:00–16:00 | 2092 (46.9) | 274 (46.0) | 686 (43.2) | 930 (48.5) | 202 (55.8) | |
| 16:00–24:00 | 1547 (34.6) | 199 (33.4) | 606 (38.2) | 642 (33.5) | 100 (27.6) | |
| 24:00–08:00 | 826 (18.5) | 123 (20.6) | 296 (18.6) | 347 (18.1) | 60 (16.6) | |
| Time on scene – min (25th, 75th percentile) | ||||||
| Median | 22 (15,30) | 25 (18,33) | 22 (15,30) | 21 (14,29) | 21 (14,31) | < 0.001 |
| Medical history4 – n(%) | ||||||
| Diseases of the circulatory system I00-I99 | 4459 (30.2) | 715 (33.1) | 1593 (30.0) | 1846 (29.8) | 305 (27.9) | 0.008 |
| Mental and behavioural disorders F01-F99 | 2222 (15.1) | 333 (15.4) | 873 (16.4) | 861 (13.9) | 155 (14.2) | 0.002 |
| Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases E00-E89 | 1338 (9.1) | 198 (9.2) | 447 (8.4) | 594 (9.6) | 99 (9.1) | 0.186 |
| Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue M00-M99 | 1014 (6.9) | 101 (4.7) | 348 (6.6) | 457 (7.4) | 108 (9.9) | < 0.001 |
| Diseases of the digestive system K00-K95 | 878 (6.0) | 108 (5.0) | 299 (5.6) | 415 (6.7) | 56 (5.1) | 0.008 |
| No medical history | 569 (12.7) | 59 (9.9) | 211 (13.3) | 249 (13.0) | 50 (13.8) | 0.455 |
| Prehospital field assessment according to RETTS-A5 – n (%) | ||||||
| Abdominal/flank pain | 460 (10.3) | 36 (6.0) | 117 (7.4) | 289 (15.1) | 18 (5.0) | < 0.001 |
| Chest/thoracic pain | 456 (10.2) | 65 (10.9) | 189 (11.9) | 193 (10.1) | 9 (2.5) | 0.003 |
| Respiratory distress/dyspnoa/breathing difficulties | 382 (8.6) | 129 (21.6) | 117 (7.4) | 103 (5.4) | 33 (9.1) | < 0.001 |
| Unspecific condition | 309 (6.9) | 20 (3.4) | 42 (2.6) | 192 (10.0) | 55 (15.2) | < 0.001 |
| Injury head trauma | 274 (6.1) | 9 (1.5) | 142 (8.9) | 105 (5.5) | 18 (5.0) | 0.039 |
| Prehospital medication – n (%) | ||||||
| Any medication | 1565 (35.1) | 399 (66.9) | 653 (41.1) | 472 (24.6) | 41 (11.3) | < 0.001 |
| Intravenous medication | 889 (19.9) | 227 (38.1) | 367 (23.1) | 279 (14.5) | 16 (4.4) | < 0.001 |
| Management ED – n (%)6 | ||||||
| Admitted to in-patient care | 2287 (51.2) | 483 (81.0) | 866 (54.5) | 826 (43.0) | 112 (30.9) | < 0.001 |
| Extended examination – intervention ⟹ X-ray, CT, US, MR, LP | 687 (15.4) | 26 (4.4) | 300 (18.9) | 305 (15.9) | 56 (15.5) | 0.405 |
| Lab, drug administration, prescription | 1227 (27.5) | 80 (13.4) | 364 (22.9) | 657 (34.2) | 126 (34.8) | < 0.001 |
| Clinical exam observation only | 219 (4.9) | 7 (1.2) | 45 (2.8) | 112 (5.8) | 55 (15.2) | < 0.001 |
| Patient managed by ED nurse, referral to primary care | 45 (1.0) | 0 (0.0) | 13 (0.8) | 19 (1.0) | 13 (3.6) | 0.007 |
| Under the influence of substances (alcohol, drugs) – n (%) | 398 (8.9) | 67 (11.2) | 216 (13.6) | 91 (4.7) | 24 (6.6) | < 0.001 |
| Days of in-patient care – n | ||||||
| Mean (SD) | 7.97 (9.15) | 8.53 (10.35) | 7.48 (8.92) | 8.06 (8.76) | 8.74 (8.00) | 0.463 |
| Median (25th, 75th percentile) | 5 (2,11) | 6 (3,10) | 5 (2,10) | 6 (3,11) | 6 (3,13) | 0.042 |
| Final hospital assessment, ICD-10 codes – n (%) (8,59,62,24)2 | ||||||
| (R) Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings | 851 (19.7) | 57 (9.7) | 305 (19.9) | 436 (23.5) | 53 (15.7) | < 0.001 |
| (S,T) Injury, poisoning and certain other consequnces of external causes | 828 (19.2) | 53 (9.0) | 333 (21.8) | 379 (20.4) | 63 (18.6) | 0.113 |
| (I) Diseases of the circulatory system | 550 (12.8) | 148 (25.2) | 196 (12.8) | 178 (9.6) | 28 (8.3) | < 0.001 |
| (J) Diseases of the respiratory system | 351 (8.1) | 115 (19.6) | 133 (8.7) | 94 (5.1) | 9 (2.7) | < 0.001 |
| (F) Mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders | 301 (7.0) | 53 (9.0) | 110 (7.2) | 100 (5.4) | 38 (11.2) | 0.073 |
| All-cause mortality – n (%) | ||||||
| ≤ 7 days | 88 (2.0) | 39 (6.5) | 33 (2.1) | 16 (0.8) | 0 (0.0) | < 0.001 |
| ≤ 30 days | 209 (4.7) | 73 (12.2) | 80 (5.0) | 50 (2.6) | 6 (1.7) | < 0.001 |
| ≤ 365 days | 705 (15.8) | 155 (26.0) | 237 (14.9) | 264 (13.8) | 49 (13.5) | < 0.001 |
1 P-values calculated on red/orange and yellow/green groups respectively
2 Missing patients in each triage colour category respectively
3 The five most common dispatcher assessments according to dispatch medical index
4 Past medical history – one patient can have multiple diagnoses within the same category
5 The five most common prehospital assessments according to RETTS-A
6 One patient per category, descending order. CT computed tomography, US ultrasound, MR magnetic resonance, LP lumbar puncture