[Emergency medical service, medical on-call service, or emergency department : Germans unsure whom to contact in acute medical events].

ABSTRACT:

Background

In medical events, patients have to independently decide whom to contact: emergency medical services, medical on-call service or emergency department.

Objectives

Are Germans able to assess the urgency of medical events and choose the correct resource?

Materials and methods

In 2018 a nationwide anonymous telephone survey was done in Gabler-Haeder design. In all, 708 interviewees were presented with six medical scenarios. Participants were asked to rate urgency and to assess whether medical help was necessary within minutes to hours. Telephone numbers of emergency medical services and medical on-call service were inquired.

Results

Urgency of different scenarios was often misjudged: in cases with high, medium, and low urgency the misjudgement rate were 

SUBMITTER: Metelmann B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8897349 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature