Dataset Information

Incidence of emergency contacts (red responses) to Norwegian emergency primary healthcare services in 2007--a prospective observational study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The municipalities are responsible for the emergency primary health care services in Norway. These services include casualty clinics, primary doctors on-call and local emergency medical communication centres (LEMC). The National centre for emergency primary health care has initiated an enterprise called "The Watchtowers", comprising emergency primary health care districts, to provide routine information (patients' way of contact, level of urgency and first action taken by the out-of-hours services) over several years based on a minimal dataset. This will enable monitoring, evaluation and comparison of the respective activities in the emergency primary health care services. The aim of this study was to assess incidence of emergency contacts (potential life-threatening situations, red responses) to the emergency primary health care service.

Methods

A representative sample of Norwegian emergency primary health care districts, "The Watchtowers" recorded all contacts and first action taken during the year of 2007. All the variables were continuously registered in a data program by the attending nurses and sent by email to the National Centre for Emergency Primary Health Care at a monthly basis.

Results

During 2007 the Watchtowers registered 85 288 contacts, of which 1 946 (2.3%) were defined as emergency contacts (red responses), corresponding to a rate of 9 per 1 000 inhabitants per year. 65% of the instances were initiated by patient, next of kin or health personnel by calling local emergency medical communication centres or meeting directly at the casualty clinics. In 48% of the red responses, the first action taken was a call-out of doctor and ambulance. On a national basis we can estimate approximately 42 500 red responses per year in the EPH in Norway.

Conclusion

The emergency primary health care services constitute an important part of the emergency system in Norway. Patients call the LEMC or meet directly at casualty clinics with medical problems that initially are classified as a potentially life-threatening situation, a red response.

SUBMITTER: Zakariassen E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2725029 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Incidence of emergency contacts (red responses) to Norwegian emergency primary healthcare services in 2007--a prospective observational study.

Zakariassen Erik E Hansen Elisabeth Holm EH Hunskaar Steinar S

Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine 20090708

<h4>Background</h4>The municipalities are responsible for the emergency primary health care services in Norway. These services include casualty clinics, primary doctors on-call and local emergency medical communication centres (LEMC). The National centre for emergency primary health care has initiated an enterprise called "The Watchtowers", comprising emergency primary health care districts, to provide routine information (patients' way of contact, level of urgency and first action taken by the ...[more]

PMID: 19586530

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Project description:Although improving postpartum and neonatal health is a key element of the Ethiopian health extension program, the burdens of postpartum and neonatal illnesses and healthcare-seeking in rural communities in Ethiopia are poorly characterized. Therefore, we aimed to assess the incidence and risk factors for these illnesses and measure the utilization of healthcare services. We conducted a prospective cohort study of 784 postpartum women and their 772 neonates in three randomly selected kebeles in rural southern Ethiopia. Eight home follow-up visits were conducted during the first 42 postpartum days, and six neonate follow-ups were conducted at the same home over the first 28 days of life. The Prentice, Williams, and Peterson's total time Cox-type survival model was used for analysis. We recorded 31 episodes of postpartum illness per 100 women-weeks (95% confidence interval [CI]: 30%, 32%) and 48 episodes of neonatal illness per 100 neonate-weeks (95% CI: 46%, 50%). Anemia occurred in 19% of women (95% CI: 17%, 22%) and low birth weight (<2,500g) in 15% of neonates (95% CI: 13%, 18%). However, only 5% of postpartum women (95% CI: 4%, 7%) and 4% of neonate (95% CI: 3%, 5%) reported utilizing healthcare services. Walking over 60 minutes to access healthcare was a factor of both postpartum illnesses (AHR = 2.61; 95% CI: 1.98, 3.43) and neonatal illnesses (AHR = 2.66; 95% CI: 2.12, 3.35)). Birth weight ≥2500g was identified factor of neonatal illnesses (AHR = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.33, 0.46). Compared with younger mothers, older mothers with sick newborns (AHR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.50) or postpartum illnesses (AHR = 1.40; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.89) were more likely to seek healthcare. Reasons for not utilizing healthcare services included a belief that the illnesses were not serious or would resolve on their own, little confidence in the healthcare institutions, and the inability to afford the cost. The burden of postpartum and neonatal illnesses in rural communities of southern Ethiopia remains high. Unfortunately, few participants utilized healthcare services. We recommend strengthening the health system that enables identifying, managing, treating, and referring maternal and neonatal illnesses and provide reasonable healthcare at the community level.

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Dataset Information

Incidence of emergency contacts (red responses) to Norwegian emergency primary healthcare services in 2007--a prospective observational study.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Incidence of emergency contacts (red responses) to Norwegian emergency primary healthcare services in 2007--a prospective observational study.

Similar Datasets

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