A study of police operated dispatch to acute coronary syndrome cases arising from 112 emergency calls in Aarhus county, Denmark.
BACKGROUND
The accuracy of the Danish police operated "112" emergency call system was studied. Dispatch of the anaesthesiologist staffed mobile emergency care unit (MECU) to acute coronary syndrome (ACS) cases was used as an indicator of accuracy of dispatch to life threatening emergencies.


METHODS
This was an observational cohort study of patients given a 112 system report of heart attack and patients with a provisional diagnosis of ACS made on scene by the MECU. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated.


RESULTS
There were 341 reports of "heart attack" and 205 patients with ACS. Sensitivity was 75% (95% CI 68% to 80%) specificity 90% (89% to 92%) and positive predictive value 45% (40% to 50%).


CONCLUSIONS
The accuracy of 112 dispatch of the MECU was found to be moderate. We suggest more training of dispatch staff and medical supervision.
Andersen
M S
MS
Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark. a_mikkel@hotmail.com
Nielsen
T T
TT
Christensen
E F
EF
D015331:Cohort Studies; D003718:Denmark; D004631:Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006801:Humans; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016495:Police / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity