Effect of gender on prehospital refusal of medical aid.

Background: "Refusal of medical aid" (RMA) is the term commonly used by emergency medical technicians (EMTs) when someone calls 911 for care (usually the patient or a family member) but, after the initial encounter with the EMTs, the patient refuses emergency medical services transport to the hospital. Some intervention may have been performed, such as taking vital signs or an electrocardiogram, before the RMA. Although there have been multiple studies of the characteristics and outcomes of patients who RMA, little analysis has been done of the role of EMTs in these cases.