Epidemiological Features of Injured Patients Examined by Tehran Emergency Medical Service Technicians

Introduction: Knowledge of epidemiological aspects can be a useful guide in determining the resources for better prevention and management of injuries. The purpose of this study was to assess baseline characteristics of the traumatic patients according to the records of Tehran Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Center to present descriptive statistics of their epidemiological features.Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted retrospectively, using Tehran EMS center data registry. All traumatic patients examined by EMS in Tehran, Iran following call to emergency medical dispatcher were included. By reviewing the EMS technicians’ mission forms, required data were extracted. The mission form contains information such as age, sex, injured location, damage mechanism, accident location (home, workplace, street), time of call, the outcome of the patient's ambulance mission and the results of the assessment of the technician, etc.Results: Totally, ۵۶۶۱۲ injured cases with the mean age of ۳۳.۱±۱۵.۶ years were examined by EMS during one-year study period of whom ۸۰.۴% were male. Crude Incidence Rate was ۱۰.۵ and ۲.۵ per ۱۰۰۰ in male and female, respectively. Traffic accident and then fall were the two most prevalent mechanism of injuries. All types of injuries were significantly more prevalent in males (P<۰.۰۰۱). Most injuries were in winter season with ۱۵۵۷۰ cases (۲۷.۵%). Car accident was prevalent in winter and other injuries were significantly prevalent in spring (P<۰.۰۰۱). The most frequent places of injuries occurred on main roads and streets (۵۵.۷%). All of the road-related injuries was prevalent in winter, whereas injuries in other places were prevalent in spring (P<۰.۰۰۱). Most of the cases (۷۸.۳%) were transferred to the health centers, but ۲۰.۷% did not consent to treatment and transmission. Only ۲۲۲ cases (۰.۴%) died, that ۹۵% was due to traffic accident. there was a significant relationship between the number of injured organs and the death; So that the highest death rate occurred for those with more than ۵ injured organs (P <۰.۰۰۱).Conclusion: Based on the findings, traffic accident was the most frequent cause of trauma that led to visiting a traumatic patient by an EMS technician in Tehran, Iran. Injuries in all age groups were more prevalent in males, and the involvement of ۵ or more injured organ had a significant relationship with mortality.

کلیدواژه ها:

Emergency Medical Services ، Epidemiologic Studies ، Wounds and Injuries