Characteristics and outcome of patients triaged by telephone and transported by ambulance: a population‐based study in Osaka, Japan

Abstract

Aim: Details such as diagnosis and outcome of patients transported by ambulance after telephone triage have not been fully revealed. The aim of this study was to reveal profile and outcome about patients transported by ambulance via telephone triage with dataset of telephone triage and population-based registry for emergency patients. Methods: This retrospective descriptive study with a one-year study period from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016 included patients selected from the telephone triage dataset who were transported by ambulance. Key parameters such as age, sex and date and time of ambulance dispatch were used to identify patient data from the ORION registry. We assessed the profile and outcome of the patients in a descriptive epidemiological analysis. Results: We included 4,293 patients in the selected datasets whose data were merged, of whom 2,998 patients (69.8%) returned home from the emergency department, 1,255 (29.2%) were hospitalized, 32 (0.7%) were transferred to other hospitals, and 8 (0.2%) died. The most common diagnosis in the emergency departments was "infectious gastroenteritis and colitis, unspecified [A09] (219, 5.1%)". Among the 1,255 hospitalized patients, 905 patients (72.1%) were discharged home, 254 patients (20.2%) remained hospitalized, 52 patients (4.1%) were transferred to other hospitals, 38 patients (3.0%) died, and 5 patients (0.5%) had missing data. The most common diagnosis was "cerebral infarction [I63.0-I63.9] (138, 11.0%)". Conclusion: This study revealed the profile and outcome of patients transported by ambulance after telephone triage.

ABCD Approach At The #7119 Center, Telephone Triage System in Tokyo, Japan; A Retrospective Cohort Study

“…We already showed that 33% of cases, who were assigned to category red by Step 3 (symptom-speci c protocols) in the #7119 telephone triage were moderate, severe, lethal, and dead, as in cases with severity according to the de nition of this study [22]. Katayama et al reported that 29.2% of patients transported by ambulance after telephone triage were hospitalized [23]. We share almost the same protocol of telephone triage and prehospital emergency ambulance system as their study in Japan.…”

A Mobile App for Self-Triage for Pediatric Emergency Patients in Japan: 4 Year Descriptive Epidemiological Study

“…We previously described the profile of patients who were transported by ambulance after telephone triage in Osaka Prefecture [ 5 ]. The most common time of day for both telephone triage and use of this app was in the evening.…”

“…The telephone triage service in Osaka Prefecture has been described previously in detail [ 5 , 11 ]. The telephone triage nurses who receive phone calls from people judge the urgency of the chief complaints using software based on the Emergency Assessment Protocol.…”

“…In Australia, when a patient contacts the emergency dispatch center, secondary telephone triage is conducted after primary triage has taken place [ 3 ]. In Japan, telephone triage services for sudden illness and injury have been provided to people mainly in urban areas such as Tokyo and Osaka [ 4 , 5 ]. Osaka Prefecture is one of the largest metropolitan areas in Japan with a population of 8.8 million [ 6 ], and the number of ambulance dispatches in this area in 2016 was approximately 600,000 [ 7 ].…”

“…Osaka Prefecture is one of the largest metropolitan areas in Japan with a population of 8.8 million [ 6 ], and the number of ambulance dispatches in this area in 2016 was approximately 600,000 [ 7 ]. The Osaka Municipal Fire Department has been operating a telephone triage service (#7119) since 2012 [ 5 ]. The number of calls to the telephone triage center in Osaka has been increasing year by year, with the number totaling 284,665 in 2019 [ 8 ].…”