Patients from nursing and residential care facilities in the practice of Emergency Medical Teams: a two-year study

Abstract

Background. The aim of the study was to analyze Emergency Medical Services Team’s (EMSTs) interventions to patients residing in nursing care (NCF) and residential care facilities (RCF), taking into account the patient’s gender, age, reasons for the call, time of intervention. Material and methods. The study included a 2-year retrospective analysis of the EMSTs’ interventions in Lublin Province (northern part), Poland, for the period January 1st, 2021 – December 31st, 2022. The data comes from the departure documentation of teams intervening in the State Emergency Medical Services system: the departure order card and the emergency medical response card. Results. There were 177 EMSTs’ interventions selected, representing 1.27% of the total medical interventions. Age had a statistically significant impact on the reason for calling the EMST (p<0.001). The highest mean age was for neurological disorders (77±18 years), while the lowest was for consciousness disorders (44±18 years). No association was shown between the location of the patient’s residence (NCF vs. RCF). Conclusions. In the group under study, interventions due to circulatory and respiratory disorders dominated. The demand for medical procedures that exceeded the capacity of care facilities was high (69% of cases transport to the ED, 44% of interventions with pharmacotherapy).