title: Emergency transport for Japanese children with non-life-threatening conditions.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Emergency rooms in Japan are overused by children with non-life-threatening conditions, and utilization of emergency transport for children in Japan should also be analyzed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Utilization rates of emergency transport per 1000 live births or 1000 children from 1985 to 2008 in Japan were calculated from national data of emergency transport, child population and annual live births.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Emergency transport per 1000 preschool-age (28 days-6 years old) and school-age (7-17 years old) children rose, and that for newborn babies (0-27 days old) per 1000 live births grew from 1985 to 2008. The utilization rates, however, did not grow homogeneously among the different severity groups. The rates of transport for children who needed no hospitalization or those for children who needed inpatient care <3 weeks rose in each of the three age groups. The rates for patients who were dead on arrival or who needed hospitalization ≥ 3 weeks, however, declined in all the age groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Emergency transport per 1000 live births or 1000 children grew from 1985 to 2008. The utilization rates, however, did not grow homogeneously among different severity groups. The rates for children with non-life-threatening conditions rose, while those for children dead on arrival or with severe conditions declined in the past two decades.
authors: Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan. akira.ehara@nifty.com
authors: Akira
authors: A
authors: Ehara
authors: Eiji
authors: E
authors: Yoshioka
mesh_terms: D000552:Ambulances / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017028:Caregivers; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male