Is 911 The Answer? A Retrospective Review of Emergency Medical Services Use by Home Care Providers
| Title: | Is 911 The Answer? A Retrospective Review of Emergency Medical Services Use by Home Care Providers |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Sandra McKay, Emmelie Mohammed, Meghla Roy, Vivian Hung, Matthew Wong, Bonnie Lum, Emily C King |
| Source: | Health Services Insights, Vol 16 (2023) |
| Publisher Information: | SAGE Publishing, 2023. |
| Publication Year: | 2023 |
| Collection: | LCC:Medicine (General) LCC:Public aspects of medicine |
| Subject Terms: | Medicine (General), R5-920, Public aspects of medicine, RA1-1270 |
| More Details: | With the Ontario healthcare system under strain the use of resources—particularly emergency medical services (EMS) is an increasing focus. Recent work has identified long-term care facilities as high users of EMS despite access to health-related support outside of the hospital. However, such insights are not available for home care. A retrospective review of administrative records of EMS calls drawn from over 6 million visits by home care providers found relatively low call rates: 8.4 calls per 100 000 personal support visits, 4.1 calls per 100 000 for rehabilitation providers, and 0.9 calls per 100 000 for nurses. The majority (85%) of calls resulted in transport to the hospital; the notable exception was fall-related events, and of these falls, a third (32%) were treated at home. Classification of reported physical symptoms suggests opportunities for leveraging in-home clinical specialists to avoid hospital transport where possible and preserve EMS capacity to respond to the most urgent and severe events. |
| Document Type: | article |
| File Description: | electronic resource |
| Language: | English |
| ISSN: | 1178-6329 11786329 |
| Relation: | https://doaj.org/toc/1178-6329 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/11786329231178767 |
| Access URL: | https://doaj.org/article/f4ae04c0bd504dd1a341d04bf4b9381c |
| Accession Number: | edsdoj.f4ae04c0bd504dd1a341d04bf4b9381c |
| Database: | Directory of Open Access Journals |
| ISSN: | 11786329 |
|---|---|
| DOI: | 10.1177/11786329231178767 |
| Published in: | Health Services Insights |
| Language: | English |