ArticleJournal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open2021
Call volume, triage outcomes, and protocols during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom: Results of a national survey.
Article in Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- A Retrospective Analysis of Nearly 3,000,000 Non-COVID-19 Mid- and High-Priority Ambulance Activations Before and During COVID-19: A National Study from Saudi Arabia.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- 'Every day was a learning curve': implementing COVID-19 triage protocols in UK ambulance services-a qualitative study of staff experiences.Emergency medicine journal : EMJ · 2025Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prehospital emergency medical service: a scoping review.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Emergency medical service interventions and experiences during pandemics: A scoping review.PloS one · 2024Article
- Identifying patients at imminent risk of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest during the Emergency Medical call: The views of call-takers.Resuscitation plus · 2023Article
- An early warning precision public health approach for assessing COVID-19 vulnerability in the UK: the Moore-Hill Vulnerability Index (MHVI).BMC public health · 2023Article
- Influence of Previous Mental State on Psychological Outcomes of Spanish Out-of-Hospital Professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Pre-hospital prediction of adverse outcomes in patients with suspected COVID-19: Development, application and comparison of machine learning and deep learning methods.Computers in biology and medicine · 2022Article
- Observational
- Trends and associated factors for Covid-19 hospitalisation and fatality risk in 2.3 million adults in England.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Epidemiology of emergency ambulance service calls related to COVID-19 in Scotland: a national record linkage study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2022Article
- The Alternative Pre-hospital Pathway team: reducing conveyances to the emergency department through patient centered Community Emergency Medicine.BMC emergency medicine · 2021Observational
- Mental health and well-being impacts of COVID-19 on rural paramedics, police, community nurses and child protection workers.The Australian journal of rural health · 2021Article
- Call volume, triage outcomes, and protocols during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom: Results of a national survey.Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
22 authors.
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Abstract
objectivesDuring the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom (UK), to describe volume and pattern of calls to emergency ambulance services, proportion of calls where an ambulance was dispatched, proportion conveyed to hospital, and features of triage used.
methodsSemistructured electronic survey of all UK ambulance services (n = 13) and a request for routine service data on weekly call volumes for 22 weeks (February 1-July 3, 2020). Questionnaires and data request were emailed to chief executives and research leads followed by email and telephone reminders. The routine data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and questionnaire data using thematic analysis.
resultsCompleted questionnaires were received from 12 services. Call volume varied widely between services, with a UK peak at week 7 at 13.1% above baseline (service range -0.5% to +31.4%). All services ended the study period with a lower call volume than at baseline (service range -3.7% to -25.5%). Suspected COVID-19 calls across the UK totaled 604,146 (13.5% of all calls), with wide variation between services (service range 3.7% to 25.7%), and in service peaks of 11.4% to 44.5%. Ambulances were dispatched to 478,638 (79.2%) of these calls (service range 59.0% to 100.0%), with 262,547 (43.5%) resulting in conveyance to hospital (service range 32.0% to 53.9%). Triage models varied between services and over time. Two primary call triage systems were in use across the UK. There were a large number of products and arrangements used for secondary triage, with services using paramedics, nurses, and doctors to support decision making in the call center and on scene. Frequent changes to triage processes took place.
conclusionsCall volumes were highly variable. Case mix and workload changed significantly as COVID-19 calls displaced other calls. Triage models and prehospital outcomes varied between services. We urgently need to understand safety and effectiveness of triage models to inform care during further waves and pandemics.
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