Background: We describe changes in the distance travelled, the utilization of emergency services, and the inhospital mortality before and after the centralization of hospital emergency services in Denmark.

Methods: All unplanned non-psychiatric hospital contacts from adults (aged ≥18 years) in 2008 and 2016 are included. Analyses are age-standardized and conducted at a municipality level. The municipalities are divided into groups according to the presence of emergency hospital services.

Results: Municipalities where hospitals with emergency services have been closed differed by having the most significant increase in distance travelled from 2008 to 2016. All groups experienced a reduction in overall in-hospital mortality. The reduction in mortality was not present for acute myocardial infarct contacts from municipalities where hospitals with emergency services have been closed.

Conclusion: Our data do not suggest that hospital closures, and thereby increased travel distance, have contributed significantly as a barrier to emergency-care access and changes to in-hospital mortality.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.52964/AMJA.0928DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

emergency services
16
in-hospital mortality
12
emergency hospital
8
distance travelled
8
2008 2016
8
municipalities hospitals
8
hospitals emergency
8
hospital
5
mortality
5
emergency
5

Similar Publications

Background: Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is a rare, chronic, often unpredictable, severe multisystemic autoinflammatory skin disease from which patients can experience flares, episodes of widespread eruptions of painful, sterile pustules often accompanied by systemic symptoms. The impact of GPP flares and underlying GPP severity on the healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) is not well characterized.

Objective: To quantify HCRU among US GPP patients by flare status and underlying severity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally, accounting for approximately 17 million deaths annually, with sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) as a significant contributor to this alarming statistic. SCA, the abrupt loss of heart function, is a critical medical emergency that requires early recognition and immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for the effective resuscitation of victims. Various studies have shown a low level of knowledge regarding CPR in the community.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Anticholinergic toxicity typically presents with symptoms of cutaneous vasodilation, delirium, mydriasis, urinary retention, hyperthermia, anhidrosis, and tachycardia. This case report presents a 68-year-old female patient who exhibited some of these signs and symptoms after ingesting an unknown quantity of dicyclomine. However, she displayed one notable exception to the classic toxidrome.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Climate change poses significant threats to the health and safety of communities worldwide. Extreme weather events can disrupt critical infrastructure and overwhelm emergency medical services (EMS) systems. As the frequency and intensity of these climate-related disasters continue to increase, it is essential that EMS organizations develop robust strategies to enhance their resilience.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Advancements in Public First Responder Programs for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: An Updated Literature Review.

Rev Cardiovasc Med

January 2025

Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Pain and Palliative Therapy, Asklepios Klinikum Harburg, 21075 Hamburg, Germany.

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a leading cause of death worldwide, with a low survival rate of around 7% globally. Key factors for improving survival include witnessed arrest, bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and early defibrillation. Despite guidelines advocating for the "chain of survival", bystander CPR and defibrillation rates remain suboptimal.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!