ASSESSMENT OF INTERVENTIONS COMPLETED BY THE VOIVODESHIP RESCUE SERVICE IN KATOWICE IN THE SILESIAN VOIVODESHIP IN 2018 DUE TO INJURIES

Abstract

Aim: To assess the trips made by Emergency Medical Teams due to injuries (ICD-10 code: S) completed by Voivodeship Medical Rescue Teams in Katowice in 2018. Material and methods: Analysis of the characteristics of the trips was done based on information contained on “Emergency ambulance travel cards”. Statistical analysis was carried out using the t-Student, ANOVA variance as well as the Tukey post-hoc tests (p<0.05). Results: The whole number of trips made by the Emergency Medical Teams in the Silesian Voivodeship totalled 211,896, of which due to the reported injury, the total number of trips was 202,946 cases (183,827 calls were in town – 91%; 19,119 calls were out of town – 9%; p<0.05). The most common cause for calls were due to head injuries (S03 – dislocation, sprain and strain of joints and ligaments of the head as well as S04 – cranial nerve injuries). Statistically significant differences in the number of trips depending on cause identification (p<0.05) were determined, as well as in comparison to the number of cases identified as S03 and S04 between the in town and out of town territory (p<0.05). The median arrival time to an in town site was 7 minutes and 42 second, whereas in out of town sites it was 13 minutes and 19 seconds. Conclusion: The characteristics of the trips made by Emergency Medical Teams depends on the time, and what is affected by organizational changes in the emergency medical system.