Effects of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on an Australian neonatal and paediatric retrieval service.

ABSTRACT:

Aim

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated travel and social distancing restrictions have reduced paediatric intensive care unit admissions for respiratory illnesses. The effects on retrieval (transport) services remain unquantified. Our study examined the utility of statistical process control in assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of neonatal and paediatric transfers in an Australian retrieval service.

Methods

Data collected prospectively from the SA Ambulance Service MedSTAR Emergency Retrieval database in South Australia were analysed from January 2015 to June 2021. Statistical process control methodology, a combination of a time series analysis and assessment for common and special cause variation, was used to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pand

SUBMITTER: Keir A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9115227 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature