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EMERGENCIES IN AN “EMERGENCY” CALL SERVICE
Author(s) -
Parker Gordon
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1972.tb107989.x
Subject(s) - medical emergency , complaint , medicine , chest pain , emergency medical services , incidence (geometry) , emergency department , emergency medicine , prospective cohort study , psychiatry , surgery , physics , optics , political science , law
A survey of 500 patients visited by a deputizing doctor was made. An attempt was undertaken to assess the degree of urgency of each call, and to determine how effectively emergency calls are predicted prior to consultation. The incidence of emergency calls was determined as 4.2%. “Routine” calls, in which it was considered that medical attention was not required at that time from a deputizing doctor, accounted for less than 8% of calls. Fifty‐seven per cent of the emergencies were prospectively considered as such, but if those cases in which the complaint was of chest pain were excluded, then only 18% of the emergencies were anticipated. Prospective assessment of the potential for emergency is difficult, potentially dangerous, and little helped by such ancillary aids as rating scales. The concept of deputizing services as performing at an emergency level of medical attention appears erroneous.