Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/30102
Title: Nontransported Cases after Emergency Medical Service Callout in the Rural and Urban Areas of the Riyadh Region
Contributor(s): Alanazy, Ahmed Ramdan M  (author); Wark, Stuart  (author)orcid ; Fraser, John  (author); Nagle, Amanda  (author)
Publication Date: 2021
Early Online Version: 2020-12-26
Open Access: Yes
DOI: 10.4103/sjmms.sjmms_560_20
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/30102
Abstract: Background: Callouts resulting in patient nontransportation can impact the overall quality of prehospital Emergency Medical Service (EMS), as resources in health care are finite. While some studies have investigated the causes of nontransportation, few have examined whether there are differences between urban and rural patients. Similarly, there has been limited research focused on rural EMS in locations such as the Middle East.
Objectives: This study investigated EMS cases that resulted in nontransportation in the urban and rural areas of the Riyadh region in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of 800 (400 rural and 400 urban) patient records was undertaken, using 12 months (January 1 to December 31, 2017) of data from the Saudi Red Crescent EMS. A random sampling method was used to select ambulance records from the 78 urban and rural EMS stations in the Riyadh region, with demographic data and reasons for patient nontransport analyzed comparatively.
Results: A total of 310 cases were nontransported (39%) (rural: 146; urban = 164). The highest rates of nontransportation cases were of medical and trauma callouts (44.6% and 39.6%, respectively), which was consistent in both areas. The most common reason for nontransportation in both urban and rural areas was refusal of treatment and transportation (66.5% and 59.9%, respectively). Further, 10 patients were treated on-scene and released by rural EMS, while no urban patients were treated and released. Overall, the case presentations of nontransported patients did not differ significantly between both areas, and it was found that gender, age, and geographic location were not predictors for nontransportation.
Conclusions: The high rate of nontransportation, particularly in medical and trauma callouts, indicates that a review of current EMS protocols may be required, along with consideration of relevant community education programs.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: Saudi Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences, 9(1), p. 38-44
Publisher: Wolters Kluwer - Medknow Publications and Media Pvt Ltd
Place of Publication: India
ISSN: 2321-4856
1658-631X
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 110305 Emergency Medicine
111708 Health and Community Services
111709 Health Care Administration
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 320207 Emergency medicine
420305 Health and community services
420306 Health care administration
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 920206 Health Inequalities
920407 Health Protection and/or Disaster Response
920506 Rural Health
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 200204 Health inequalities
200406 Health protection and disaster response
200508 Rural and remote area health
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article
School of Rural Medicine

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