title: [Characteristics of use of an out-of-hospital emergency medical service by children].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To quantify and to describe the characteristics of use of an Emergency Medical Service by children in Bilbao City (Spain).
  
  
  METHODS
  An observational and retrospective study was performed taking patients younger than 15 years old who were served by Basic Life Support Units from an Emergency Medical Service for 4 consecutive years (2008-2011).
  
  
  RESULTS
  525 interventions were registered (anual range 102-155 interventions), which represented 2.25% of total services. 54.5% (p<0,001) of patients were male. The mean age was 7.6 years old (95% CI 6.8 to 7.5). The causes of action were associated to accidental causes in 49.1% of cases and disease in 50.9% (p=0,44), with a predominance of injuries in the 5 to 9 years (p<0,001) and disease among children under 5 years (p<0,001). The main disorders observed were injuries (41.9%), convulsive episodes (17.1%) and respiratory symptoms (10.3%). 78.9% need to transfer to health care center.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The volume of pediatric care carried out between 2008 and 2011 has not changed annually. The main visits were due to traumas and convulsions. Most emergency situations are not resolved on the spot, being necessary to transfer to hospital.
authors.affiliation: Enfermería, Bilbao SAMUR-Protección Civil, Bilbao, España. Electronic address: sendoa.ballesteros@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sendoa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ballesteros Peña
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010372:Pediatrics; D012189:Retrospective Studies