Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Emergency Medical Service Operation Time at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the prehospital care system for sick or injured patients in Thailand.
Objective: to assess how the pandemic influenced operation times within the emergency medical service (EMS) system at Maharaj Nakorn Chiangmai Hospital.
Methodology: a retrospective study, analyzing emergency response records from April to September in 2022 to 2024, comparing EMS operations before and during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Study Results: Prehospital care provision during the pre-pandemic, the initial outbreak, and the outbreak periods, there were 270, 255, and 353 EMS cases, respectively. In the case of emergency dispatch triage patients (red code), there was a substantial increase in the proportion of cases assigned to this group during these periods (40.4%, 62.4%, and 66.6%, respectively). The EMS operation times exhibited statistically significant increases, with increments of 71, 87, and 167.5 seconds for turnout time (p < 0.001); 6, 7, and 9 minutes for response time (p < 0.001); and 5, 5, and 6 minutes for back time (p = 0.004), respectively. Nevertheless, no significant differences were detected in scene time across the three phases.
Conclusion: the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected operation times in the EMS system. Ensuring the readiness of response teams and implementing regulation on prehospital procedures as necessary would effectively reduce response times and enhance prehospital patient care.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Journal of Health Systems Research is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license, unless otherwise stated.
References
WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 11 March 2020 [internet]. 2020 [cited 2022 Oct 17]. Available from: https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-openingremarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19-11-march-2020.
Şan İ, Usul E, Bekgöz B, Korkut S. Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on emergency medical services. Int J Clin Pract. 2021 May;75(5):e13885.
Laukkanen L, Lahtinen S, Liisanantti J, Kaakinen T, Ehrola A, Raatiniemi L. Early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and social restrictions on ambulance missions. Eur J Public Health. 2021 Oct 26;31(5):1090-5.
National Institute for Emergency Medicine. Emergency medical triage protocol and criteria based dispatch [internet]. 2nd ed. Nonthaburi: National Institute for Emergency Medicine; 2013 [cited 2020 Jun 7]. p. 2-5. Available from: https://www.niems.go.th/1/Ebook/Detail/272?group=21. (in Thai)
World Health Organization Thailand. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as reported by the CSCA press briefing including a summary over the past week until 23 Sep 2021 [internet]. 2021 [cited 2023 Feb 24]. Available from: https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/searo/thailand/2021_09_23_tha-sitrep-202-covid19.pdf?sfvrsn=3a8bb0aa_5. (in Thai)
Al Amiry A, Maguire BJ. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) calls during COVID-19: early lessons learned for systems planning (a narrative review). Open Access Emerg Med OAEM. 2021;13:407-14.
Sheets NW, Fawibe OS, Mahmoud A, Chawla-Kondal B, Ayutyanont N, Plurad DS. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on trauma encounters. Am Surg. 2023 Mar;89(3):434-9.
Ageta K, Naito H, Yorifuji T, Obara T, Nojima T, Yamada T, et al. Delay in emergency medical service transportation responsiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic in a minimally affected region. Acta Med Okayama. 2020 Dec;74(6):513–20.
Yu JH, Liu CY, Chen WK, Yu SH, Huang FW, Yang MT, et al. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency medical service response to out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Taiwan: a retrospective observational study. Emerg Med J EMJ. 2021 Sep;38(9):679-84.
National Institute for Emergency Medicine. Operation manual for Special COVID-19 Operation Team [internet]. 2020 [cited 2023 Nov 20]. Available from: https://www.niems.go.th/1/UploadAttachFile/2020/EBook/49789_20200324221653.pdf. (in Thai)
Pangma A. Announcement of the National Institute of Emergency Medicine on criteria for triaging emergency patients and prioritizing care Symptom number 26 in the case of coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)) 2022 [internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Nov 20]. Available from: https://www.niems.go.th/1/Ebook/Detail/15009?group=10. (in Thai)