Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population and EMS contacts. The infants transported and not transported by ambulance were compared using Mann-Whitney U test for age and Fisher’s test for other variables
| All infants encountered alive N = 1710 | Infants not transported by ambulance N = 1027 | Infants transported by ambulance N = 683 | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (months) median (IQR) | 6.7 (2.81–9.47) | 7 (3.4–9.53) | 6 (2.07–9.29) | < 0.01 |
| Sex (males) | 894 (52.4%) | 536 (52.3%) | 358 (52.5%) | 0.96 |
| SpO2 measured OOH | 957 (56.0%) | 531 (51.7%) | 426 (62.4%) | < 0.01 |
| Heart rate measured OOH | 1007 (58.9%) | 573 (55.8%) | 434 (63.5%) | < 0.01 |
| Respiratory rate measured OOH | 577 (33.7%) | 352 (34.3%) | 225 (32.9%) | 0.60 |
| Temperature measured OOH | 994 (58.1%) | 533 (51.9%) | 461 (67.5%) | < 0.01 |
| Blood glucose measured OOH | 343 (20.1%) | 149 (14.5%) | 194 (28.4%) | < 0.01 |
| Blood pressure measured OOH | 445 (26.0%) | 235 (22.9%) | 210 (30.7%) | < 0.01 |
| GCS measured OOH | 498 (29.1%) | 327 (31.8%) | 171 (25.0%) | < 0.01 |
| No measurements OOH | 256 (15.0%) | 171 (16.7%) | 85 (12.4%) | 0.02 |
| I.v. access inserted OOH | 2 (0.1%) | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (0.3%) | 0.16 |
| Lungs auscultated OOH | 561 (32.8%) | 344 (33.5%) | 217 (31.8%) | 0.49 |
| Time of day | 0.46 | |||
| 06:00–14:00 | 465 (27.2%) | 281 (27.4%) | 184 (26.9%) | |
| 14:00–22:00 | 770 (45.0%) | 451 (43.9%) | 319 (46.7%) | |
| 22:00–06:00 | 475 (27.8%) | 295 (28.7%) | 180 (26.4%) | |
| Most common symptom codes | < 0.01 | |||
| “Dyspnea” | 471 (27.5%) | 262 (25.5%) | 209 (30.6%) | |
| “Fall (low energy)” | 322 (18.8%) | 241 (23.5%) | 81 (11.9%) | |
| “Choking” | 144 (8.4%) | 117 (11.4%) | 27 (4.0%) | |
| Priority class for dispatch | < 0.01 | |||
| A | 55 (3.2%) | 16 (1.6%) | 39 (5.7%) | |
| B | 789 (46.1%) | 416 (40.5%) | 373 (54.6%) | |
| C | 820 (48.0%) | 558 (54.3%) | 262 (38.4%) | |
| D | 46 (2.7%) | 37 (3.6%) | 9 (1.3%) | |
| Most common diagnoses at EDb | 0.56 | |||
| J06.9 “Common cold” | 83 (24.6%) | 21 (26.9%) | 62 (23.9%) | |
| J04.0 “Laryngitis” | 54 (16.0%) | 17 (21.8%) | 37 (14.3%) | |
| R56.8 “Seizure” | 61 (18.1%) | 12 (15.4%) | 49 (18.9%) | |
| R68.1 “Infant with nonspecific symptoms” | 49 (14.5%) | 8 (10.3%) | 41 (15.8%) | |
| Z03.9 “Observation” | 49 (14.5%) | 11 (14.1.%) | 38 (14.7%) | |
| S06.0 “Concussion” | 41 (12.2%) | 9 (11.5%) | 32 (12.4%) | |
| 1-year mortality | 1 (0.1%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (0.1%) | 0.40 |
| PICU admissions | 28 (3.2%) | 2 (1.0%)a | 26 (3.8%) | 0.06 |
| Medical state other than good upon arrival at ED | 91 (11.1%)a | 11 (5.7%)a | 80 (12.8%) | 0.01 |
| Any medication or respiratory support given at ED | 386 (47.2%)a | 82 (42.3%)a | 304 (48.8%) | 0.12 |
| Hospitalization | 336 (19.8%)a | 51 (26.3%)a | 285 (41.7%) | < 0.01 |
| Surgical procedures during the same visit | 18 (2.1%)a | 2 (1.0%)a | 16 (2.3%) | 0.39 |
SpO2 Peripheral oxygen saturation, ED Emergency department, GCS Glasgow Coma Scale, I.v. Intravenous, OOH Out-of-hospital, PICU Pediatric intensive care unit
aIn proportion to those infants who visited ED within 72 h
b The full names of the ICD-10 diagnoses are shown in the Additional file 1