J Korean Soc Emerg Med.  2024 Jun;35(3):212-222.

Impact of emergency room occupancy on the timing of antibiotic administration in patients with septic shock who visited the emergency room

• Nam TK
• Ryu JH
• Min Mk
• Lee D
• Chun M
• Son SW
• Tae YW
• Lee M

Abstract

Objective
The emergency department (ED) serves as the initial point of contact for many sepsis patients, but crowding can affect the timely delivery of essential interventions, such as antibiotics. This paper explores the relationship between antibiotics administration and ED crowding in the context of sepsis management.
Methods
This single-center study at a tertiary care hospital included adult patients aged 18 and above who visited the emergency department from January 2018 to December 2022. Patients showing signs of septic shock upon arrival were selected as the study population. This study examined factors such as emergency department occupancy, antibiotic administration time, and their correlation with timely antibiotic treatment.
Results
This study of 839 adult patients with septic shock found a weak correlation (P=0.107) between the time to antibiotic administration and department occupancy. Delayed antibiotic administration was observed when the occupancy exceeded 100%. On the other hand, there was no significant correlation between antibiotic administration within one hour and department occupancy.
Conclusion
Various factors, such as ED bed occupancy, medical staffing, resource allocation, and patient acuity, must be considered when comprehensively evaluating the impact of ED overcrowding on treating septic shock and other conditions.

Keyword

Septic shock; Bed occupancy; Crowding