Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2016
DOI
10.3109/10903127.2015.1076099
Publication Title
Prehospital Emergency Care
Volume
20
Issue
2
Pages
230-238
Abstract
Children have unique medical needs compared to adults. Emergency medical services personnel need proper equipment and training to care for children. The purpose of this study is to characterize emergency medical services pediatric basic life support to help better understand the needs of children transported by ambulance. Pediatric basic life support patients were identified in this retrospective descriptive study. Descriptive statistics were used to examine incident location, possible injury, cardiac arrest, resuscitation attempted, chief complaint, primary symptom, provider's primary impression, cause of injury, and procedures performed during pediatric basic life support calls using the largest aggregate of emergency medical services data available, the 2013 National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) Public Release Research Data Set. Pediatric calls represented 7.4% of emergency medical services activations. Most pediatric patients were male (49.8%), White (40.0%), and of non-Hispanic origin (56.5%). Most incidents occurred in the home. Injury, cardiac arrest, and resuscitation attempts were highest in the 15 to 19 year old age group. Global complaints (37.1%) predominated by anatomic location and musculoskeletal complaints (26.9%) by organ system. The most common primary symptom was pain (30.3%) followed by mental/psychiatric (13.4%). Provider's top primary impression was traumatic injury (35.7%). The most common cause of injury was motor vehicle accident (32.3%). The most common procedure performed was patient assessment (27.4%). Median EMS system response time was 7 minutes (IQR: 5?12). Median EMS scene time was 12 minutes (IQR: 8?19). Median transport time was 14 minutes (IQR: 8?24). Median EMS total call time was 51 minutes (IQR: 33?77). The epidemiology of pediatric basic life support can help to guide efforts in both emergency medical services operations and training.
Original Publication Citation
Diggs, L. A., Sheth-Chandra, M., & De Leo, G. (2016). Epidemiology of pediatric prehospital basic life support care in the united states. Prehospital Emergency Care, 20(2), 230-238. doi:10.3109/10903127.2015.1076099
ORCID
0000-0003-4822-2350 (Diggs)
Repository Citation
Diggs, Leigh Ann; Sheth-Chandra, Manasi; and De Leo, Gianluca, "Epidemiology of Pediatric Prehospital Basic Life Support Care in the United States" (2016). Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications. 30.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/commhealth_fac_pubs/30
Included in
Emergency Medicine Commons, Epidemiology Commons, Pediatrics Commons
Comments
Originally published online: November 15, 1015.