Influence of summer tourist flows on occurrence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in an Italian tourist-intensive area.

Introduction: The study aims to evaluate the seasonal variation of out-of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in a tourist-intensive area.

Methods: Data of all OHCA treated by the Emergency Medical Service of Lecce (LE-EMS), Italy, between 2013 and 2017, were retrospectively analyzed and complemented with information about tourist flows, in order to determine the influence of the seasonal variation of population on incidence and outcome.

Results: Tourist arrivals were around 1,700,000 per year, mostly in summer, adding up to 803,161 residents.

Analysis of emergency medical services triage and dispatch errors by registered nurses in Italy.

Introduction: The major elements of an effective emergency medical services (EMS) system include a single telephone access number, accurate assessment of the urgency of the health problem, and timely dispatch of appropriate personnel and equipment. In Italy, EMS calls are managed by emergency operations centers by registered nurses who have received specialized education in this function. The nurses determine the criticality of the situations and assign an EMS response priority level identified by a color code, ranging from red (very critical) to green (not critical).