J Korean Med Sci.  2023 Oct;38(42):e317. 10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e317.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Emergency Medical Service: An Analysis of Patient Transportations and Time Intervals

• Park YJ
• Song KJ
• Hong KJ
• Park JH
• Kim TH
• Kim YS
• Lee SH

• KMID: 2547558
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e317

Abstract

Background
This study aimed to investigate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak on the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) system in South Korea. The study focused on the differences in EMS time intervals following the COVID-19 outbreak, particularly for patients with fever.
Methods
A retrospective analysis of EMS patient transportation data from 2017 to 2022 was conducted using the national EMS database.
Results
Starting from the year 2020, coinciding with the COVID-19 outbreak, all EMS time intervals experienced an increase. For the years 2017 to 2022, the mean response time interval values were 8.6, 8.6, 8.6, 10.2, 12.8, and 11.4 minutes, and the mean scene time interval values were 7.1, 7.2, 7.4, 9.0, 9.8, and 10.9 minutes. The mean transport time interval (TTI) values were 12.1, 12.3, 12.4, 14.2, 16.9, and 16.2 minutes, and the mean turnaround time interval values were 27.6, 27.9, 28.7, 35.2, 42.0, and 43.1 minutes. Fever (≥ 37.5°C) patients experienced more pronounced prolongations in EMS time intervals compared to non-fever patients and had a higher probability of being non-transported. The mean differences in TTI between fever and non-fever patients were 0.8, 0.8, 0.8, 4.3, 4.8, and 3.2 minutes, respectively, from 2017 to 2022. Furthermore, the odds ratios for fever patients being transported to the emergency department were 2.7, 2.9, 2.8, 1.1, 0.8, and 0.7, respectively, from 2017 to 2022.
Conclusion
The study findings highlight the significant impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the EMS system and emphasize the importance of ongoing monitoring to evaluate the burden on the EMS system.

Keyword

COVID-19; Emergency Medical Service; Time Interval

Figure

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  Fig. 1 The flowchart of the detailed exclusion steps and results.EMS = Emergency Medical Service.

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  Fig. 2 The daily trend of number of EMS run by categories.Transport: cases of patient transported, Non-transport: cases of patient not transported, Co-transport: cases of patients transported by another vehicle, Non-EMS: cases of non-EMS activity.EMS = Emergency Medical Service, COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019.

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  Fig. 3 The daily trend of mean minutes of EMS time intervals of transported cases.EMS = emergency medical service, COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019, RTI = response time interval, STI = scene time interval, TTI = transport time interval, TAI = turn-around time interval, TEI = total EMS time interval.

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  Fig. 4 The daily trend of mean differences of EMS time intervals between fever (≥ 37.5°C) and no-fever (< 37.5°C) patient subgroup.EMS = emergency medical service, COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019, RTI = response time interval, STI = scene time interval, TTI = transport time interval, TAI = turn-around time interval, TEI = total EMS time interval.

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