Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29304841›Full record

Observational studyScandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine2018

Paediatric medical emergency calls to a Danish Emergency Medical Dispatch Centre: a retrospective, observational study.

Kasper Andersen, Søren Mikkelsen, Gitte Jørgensen, Stine Thorhauge Zwisler

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. The competency requirements for emergency medical services call takers and dispatchers - a scoping review.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2026
    Article
  2. Observational
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Pre-hospital care for children: a descriptive study from Central Norway.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2024
    Observational
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Why do infants need out-of-hospital emergency medical services? A retrospective, population-based study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2021
    Article
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Kasper AndersenDepartment of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. kaand12@student.sdu.dk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1786-1715
Søren MikkelsenDepartment of Anaesthesiology & Intensive Care, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.
Gitte JørgensenDepartment of Anaesthesiology & Intensive Care, Mobile Emergency Care Unit, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.
Stine Thorhauge ZwislerDepartment of Anaesthesiology & Intensive Care, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLittle is known regarding paediatric medical emergency calls to Danish Emergency Medical Dispatch Centres (EMDC). This study aimed to investigate these calls, specifically the medical issues leading to them and the pre-hospital units dispatched to the paediatric emergencies.

methodsWe performed a retrospective, observational study on paediatric medical emergency calls managed by the EMDC in the Region of Southern Denmark in February 2016. We reviewed audio recordings of emergency calls and ambulance records to identify calls concerning patients ≤ 15 years. We examined EMDC dispatch records to establish how the medical issues leading to these calls were classified and which pre-hospital units were dispatched to the paediatric emergencies. We analysed the data using descriptive statistics.

resultsOf a total of 7052 emergency calls in February 2016, 485 (6.9%) concerned patients ≤ 15 years. We excluded 19 and analysed the remaining 466. The reported medical issues were commonly classified as: "seizures" (22.1%), "sick child" (18.9%) and "unclear problem" (12.9%). The overall most common pre-hospital response was immediate dispatch of an ambulance with sirens and lights with a supporting physician-manned mobile emergency care unit (56.4%). The classification of medical issues and the dispatched pre-hospital units varied with patient age. DISCUSSION: We believe our results might help focus the paediatric training received by emergency medical dispatch staff on commonly encountered medical issues, such as the symptoms and conditions pertaining to the symptom categories "seizures" and "sick child". Furthermore, the results could prove useful in hypothesis generation for future studies examining paediatric medical emergency calls.

conclusionAlmost 7% of all calls concerned patients ≤ 15 years. Medical issues pertaining to the symptom categories "seizures", "sick child" and "unclear problem" were common and the calls commonly resulted in urgent pre-hospital responses.

Indexed as

EmergenciesAdolescentAmbulancesChildChild, PreschoolDenmarkEmergency Medical DispatchEmergency Medical Service Communication SystemsEmergency Medical ServicesFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMaleRetrospective StudiesCriteria-based dispatchEmergency medical dispatchingPaediatric medical emergency

Identifiers

PMID29304841
PMCPMC5756442

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.