The Emergency Performance of the Hungarian Ambulance Service during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Bíró, Klára; Deák, Máté Sándor; Pápai, György; Nagy, Attila; Dombrádi, Viktor; Szabó, Gábor; Boruzs, Klára; Bányai, Gábor; Csató, Gábor

doi:10.3390/healthcare10112331

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 30 publications

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“…For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the overall preparedness of the healthcare service, criticalities emerged concerning the insufficiency of healthcare structures to accommodate patients who, ready for discharge from hospital, were not yet in an appropriate condition to treat themselves independently at home [ 46 ]. This lead both to an abnormal use of emergency services and inpatient wards bottlenecking [ 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intra- and Extra-Hospitalization Monitoring of Vital Signs—Two Sides of the Same Coin: Perspectives from LIMS and Greenline-HT Study Operators

Pietrantonio,

Vinci,

Maurici

et al. 2023

Sensors

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Background: In recent years, due to the epidemiological transition, the burden of very complex patients in hospital wards has increased. Telemedicine usage appears to be a potential high-impact factor in helping with patient management, allowing hospital personnel to assess conditions in out-of-hospital scenarios. Methods: To investigate the management of chronic patients during both hospitalization for disease and discharge, randomized studies (LIMS and Greenline-HT) are ongoing in the Internal Medicine Unit at ASL Roma 6 Castelli Hospital. The study endpoints are clinical outcomes (from a patient’s perspective). In this perspective paper, the main findings of these studies, from the operators’ point of view, are reported. Operator opinions were collected from structured and unstructured surveys conducted among the staff involved, and their main themes are reported in a narrative manner. Results: Telemonitoring appears to be linked to a reduction in side-events and side-effects, which represent some of most commons risk factors for re-hospitalization and for delayed discharge during hospitalization. The main perceived advantages are increased patient safety and the quick response in case of emergency. The main disadvantages are believed to be related to low patient compliance and an infrastructural lack of optimization. Conclusions: The evidence of wireless monitoring studies, combined with the analysis of activity data, suggests the need for a model of patient management that envisages an increase in the territory of structures capable of offering patients subacute care (the possibility of antibiotic treatments, blood transfusions, infusion support, and pain therapy) for the timely management of chronic patients in the terminal phase, for which treatment in acute wards must be guaranteed only for a limited time for the management of the acute phase of their diseases.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intra- and Extra-Hospitalization Monitoring of Vital Signs—Two Sides of the Same Coin: Perspectives from LIMS and Greenline-HT Study Operators

Pietrantonio,

Vinci,

Maurici

et al. 2023

Sensors

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Appropriateness of frequent use of emergency departments: A retrospective analysis in Rome, Italy

Furia

Vinci

Colamesta³

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

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BackgroundFrequent users (FUs) are patients who repeatedly and inappropriately visit the emergency department (ED) for low-grade symptoms that could be treated outside the hospital setting. This study aimed to investigate the phenomenon of the FU in Rome by profiling such users and analyzing ED attendance by FUs.MethodsThe analysis was carried out for attendance in 2021 at 15 EDs in the Local Health Authority Roma 1 geographical area. A digital app collected data, including information on the following variables: number of attendance, demographic characteristics, emergency medical service (EMS) usage, triage code, and appropriateness of attendance. COVID-19 diagnosis was also studied to analyze any possible influence on ED attendance. Differences between FUs and non-FUs were investigated statistically by t-test and chi-square test. Univariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression were performed to analyze the associated factors.ResultsA total of 122,762 ED attendance and 89,036 users were registered. The FU category represented 2.9% of all users, comprising 11.9% of total ED attendance. There was a three times higher frequency of non-urgent codes in attendance of FU patients (FU: 9.7%; non-FU: 3.2%). FUs were slightly more likely to have used the EMS (13.6% vs. 11.4%) and had a lower frequency of appropriate ED attendance (23.8% vs. 27.0%). Multivariate logistic analysis confirmed a significant effect of triage code, gender, age, EMS usage, and COVID-19 diagnosis for the appropriateness of attendance. The results were statistically significant (p < 0.001).ConclusionThe FU profile describes mostly non-urgent and inappropriate attendance at the ED, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study represents an important tool for strengthening preventive policies outside the hospital setting. The Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan represents an excellent opportunity for the development of new strategies to mitigate the phenomenon of FUs.

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Lessons of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Ambulance Service in Kazakhstan

Messova,

Pivina,

Ygiyeva

et al. 2024

Healthcare

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Background: Emergency medical services (EMS) are intended to provide people with immediate, effective, and safe access to the healthcare system. The effects of pandemics on emergency medical services (EMS) have not been studied sufficiently. The aim of this paper is to assess the frequency and structure of calls at an ambulance station in Kazakhstan during the period of 2019–2023. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted to estimate the incidence of emergency assistance cases from 2019 to 2023. Results: An analysis of the structure and number of ambulance calls before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and post-pandemic period did not reveal significant changes, except for calls in urgency category IV. Patients of urgency category IV handled by an ambulance decreased by 2 and 1.7 times in 2020 and 2021, respectively, which appears to be related to quarantine measures. In 2022 and 2023, category IV calls were 4.7 and 4.5 times higher than in 2019. Conclusions: This study’s findings suggest no changes in the dynamics of ambulance calls, except urgency category IV calls. The number of category IV urgent calls decreased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic and increased in the post-pandemic period.

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The Emergency Performance of the Hungarian Ambulance Service during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cited by 3 publications

References 30 publications

Intra- and Extra-Hospitalization Monitoring of Vital Signs—Two Sides of the Same Coin: Perspectives from LIMS and Greenline-HT Study Operators

Intra- and Extra-Hospitalization Monitoring of Vital Signs—Two Sides of the Same Coin: Perspectives from LIMS and Greenline-HT Study Operators

Appropriateness of frequent use of emergency departments: A retrospective analysis in Rome, Italy

Lessons of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Ambulance Service in Kazakhstan

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