title: EMS characteristics in an Asian Metropolis.
abstract: A prospective citywide cohort study was conducted from August 1, 1993, through May 31, 1994 to analyze the epidemiological characteristics of emergency medical services (EMS) in an Asian city. Of 5,459 studied cases, the leading 3 causes were trauma (49.7%), alcohol intoxication (8.6%), and altered mental status (AMS) (6.9%). Half of the studied cases needed no prehospital care and 16.4% needed advanced life support (ALS) care. Traffic accidents accounted for 68% of trauma cases. Of 897 cases requiring ALS care, the two most common causes were AMS and dead on arrival (DOA) (32.1% and 21.2% in medical group, 10.1% and 4.5% in trauma group, respectively). The response time, time on scene, and transportation time were 4.6, 4.3, and 9.4 minutes, respectively. This Oriental EMS system experienced very short prehospital times, many traffic accidents, and extremely few DOA cases. Because few patients required ALS care, an emergency medical technician-based EMS system would probably be able to handle the majority of prehospital patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Veterans General Hospital-Taipei, Medical College, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Y L
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Lan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003221:Confusion; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014504:Urban Health