@article{ref1,
title="Delay in emergency medical service transportation responsiveness during the CoViD-19  pandemic in a minimally affected region",
journal="Acta medica Okayama",
year="2020",
author="Ageta, Kohei and Naito, Hiromichi and Yorifuji, Takashi and Obara, Takafumi and Nojima, Tsuyoshi and Yamada, Taihei and Tsukahara, Kohei and Yakushiji, Hiromasa and Nakao, Atsunori",
volume="74",
number="6",
pages="513-520",
abstract="Few studies have investigated the influence of the Coronavirus Disease 2019  (COVID-19) pandemic on emer-gency medical service (EMS) systems, especially in areas  less affected or unaffected by COVID-19. In this study, we investigated changes in  prehospital EMS activity and transport times during the COVID-19 pandemic. All  patients transported by EMS in the city of Okayama from March-May 2019 or March-May  2020 were included. Interfacility transports were excluded. The primary outcome was  the time from a patient's first emergency call until hospital arrival (total  prehospital time). Secondary outcomes included three segments of total prehospital  time: the response time, on-scene time, and transportation time. Total prehospital  time and the durations of each segment were compared between corresponding months in  2020 (COVID19-affected) and 2019 (control). The results showed that total  prehospital times in April 2020 were significantly higher than those in 2019 (33.8 ±  11.6 vs. 32.2 ± 10.8 min, p < 0.001). Increases in total prehospital time were  caused by longer response time (9.3 ± 3.8 vs. 8.7 ± 3.7 min, p < 0.001) and on-scene  time (14.4 ± 7.9 vs. 13.5 ± 6.2min, p < 0.001). The COVID-19 pandemic was thus shown  to affect EMS and delayed arrival/response even in a minimally affected region. A  system to minimize transportation delays should be developed for emerging pandemics.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0386-300X",
doi="10.18926/AMO/61210",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.18926/AMO/61210"
}