Study: Care Quicker When Victims Go to ER Via EMS

[x635 4,066]

"When lights and sirens are blaring, "the floodgates open up and everyone pays attention"

Uh huh. Read below. Whoever conducted this study isn't paying attention to EMS in the real or urban world. Although I do somewhat agree that SOMETIMES care is given faster to patients coming in via ambulance, I feel that is because of the assesment skills and conveyance of findings by EMS people that get the care started quicker. Maybe the study needs to look at the inadequate triage sytem in ED's and the overworked nurses and ED staff as the reason why care is given faster to those coming in by ambulance.

Care Quicker When Victims Go to ER By Ambulance

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - You may not be doing a stroke victim a favor by driving the patient to the hospital. People who arrive by ambulance are far more likely to get fast care once they get to the emergency room, new research shows.

 

Dr. Yousef Mohammad at Ohio State University studied records on more than 630,000 stroke patients and found that those who came by ambulance saw a doctor sooner and were more likely to be admitted than those who arrived by car, by foot or by public transportation.

A second study of nearly 500 stroke patients by researchers in Portland, Ore., found that ambulance patients were more likely to promptly receive crucial tests.

When lights and sirens are blaring, "the floodgates open up and everyone pays attention," as opposed to a woman quietly pushing her husband in a wheelchair, said Dr. Joseph Broderick, a stroke expert from the University of Cincinnati, who had no role in the research.

People often panic and drive stroke victims to the hospital, especially if they live close to one, he said. The better course is to call 911, he said.

The studies also reveal much about hospital worker attitudes, Mohammad said.

"The patient needs to be treated the same," regardless of how he or she gets to the emergency room, he said.

Both studies were presented Thursday at an American Stroke Association conference in Florida.

Edited February 16, 2006 by x635

[WAS967 97]

People often panic and drive stroke victims to the hospital, especially if they live close to one, he said. The better course is to call 911, he said.

Not for nothing, If I live down the street from a hospital (and I do somewhat), I wouldn't wait either. The average time it takes for the ambulance to get out the door is MUCH longer than it would take me to drive to the ER, even in heavy traffic (5 minutes).

[cas2383 22]

Ive sat in the waiting room of a few hospitals with friends from painful back injuries to cut off fingers, and i have noticed that people who come in for minor reasons by ems do get treated quicker. Quicker at least by getting them into the er and not waiting for 5 hours in the waiting room. If the cost for an ambulance wasnt so high around here we would have called...

[firemoose827 324]

Hello everyone...It has been our experience in cobleskill that the patients are learning quickly that if you call the ambulance you will get directly into the er. But we have derived a system of triage with our ER friends (privelage of being in small town ems) that if they are stable enough to wait in lobby, we state in our report they are AOx3 and ambulatory. That means that a nurse will meet us at the door and direct the patient to the waiting room after a quick triage. This has cut down on the amount of "Sick" calls we get.

Stay safe.

[heyu 0]

Please keep in mind that 911 is for true emergent care and shouldn't be used as a ride to avoid "hospital wait time". When a person calls 911 with a minor complaint, they are creating a dis-service to the community by pulling a bus out of service and therefore creating a longer turn around time for future jobs that are in need of acute care. Think before you call.

[firemoose827 324]

Please keep in mind that 911 is for true emergent care and shouldn't be used as a ride to avoid "hospital wait time". When a person calls 911 with a minor complaint, they are creating a dis-service to the community by pulling a bus out of service and therefore creating a longer turn around time for future jobs that are in need of acute care. Think before you call.

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Just a question, who are you talking to? The EMS personnel in this post or people in general?

[heyu 0]

I am addressing anyone, who thinks that by calling 911 and requesting a bus, that they will be served quicker. The truth in this matter, as posted before, EMS will call the hospital prior to arrival and the hospital will triage the nature of call and this is what determines the priority of the patient and wait time. I also encouraged those who know the system to think before they call, although I do recognize, that in an emergency this can be difficult to do.

[doug_e 0]

I recently recieved an email inviting me to look at Fire Engineering magazine in a digital format on line. Flipping through I took a closer look at the Volunteer's Corner article.

Reading through it I became increasingly pissed off at the tone of the message "What if Nobody Came". There is an interesting trend afoot to frame this discussion in that way. It sounds like talking points to me...But that's for another day, I digress.

But near the end of the article the author relates a story about a friend, of a friend of a friend or some such tripe, who fell and dislocated her shoulder. Not a life threatening injury. He writes about how this Kathy broad, the wife of a firefighter, like that legitimizes her, rushed to her friends aid and decided that it was a serious call that required an ambulance to transport them to the ER.

On the first tone the local volunteer department got a driver but no EMT to tech the call. As written the cop, who arrived on the scene, offered to drive the woman to the hosptial to expidite care but this local public service genius, Kathy (the wife of a firefighter) felt that if they did that it would mean a agonizing wait in the ER.

After they re-toned for an EMT good old "Florence Nightingale" there blurted out,

"This is why we need a paid department!"

So basically this jerk felt that her friend needed a $150,000 ambulance and a driver and EMT to take her to the ER because she is so self important that she shouldn't have to wait in the ER for treatment.

I know this is quite a rant and includes a number of landmines in it but it pointed out to me (again) the root problem in our EMS service today.

That is ABUSE of the system.

Take a good listen to any of the local county dispatch agencies and count the number of non-emergency calls we have to respond to because John Q. Public has gotten the message that if you think you need any type of public service you should dial 911. And if you have to go to the hospital you NEED to go there in an ambulance so you can usurp the system.

The answer is - No, Kathy, you schmuck...We don't need a paid service. What we need is for people like you, the wife of a firefighter who should know better, to stop squandering a limited resource on BS calls so you don't have to wait in the ER.

In my head I hear Cartman of South Park screaming this at her...

I feel much better now.....Oh, I have to go now and do a mutual aid cover for an elderly man feeling nausious, I'd better hurry....

Edited February 17, 2006 by doug_e