Observational studyBMC medicine2023
Increasing emergency number utilisation is not driven by low-acuity calls: an observational study of 1.5 million emergency calls (2018-2021) from Berlin.
Observational study in BMC medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
23 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
- Reorganisation of the Basic Life Support Segment in a Physician-Led Emergency Medical Service: A Retrospective Evaluation of Operational and Clinical Characteristics.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- [Efficacy of a psychosocial workplace within the Berlin Fire Department's dispatch center: a randomized controlled trial].Medizinische Klinik, Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin · 2026Article
- Trends in urgency levels and risk of acute critical condition among prehospital patients. A seven-year observational historic register-based cohort study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2026Observational
- Differences in emergency ambulance use between older and younger individuals in Denmark: a nationwide register-based study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Article
- Leadership Perspectives on Criteria-Based Dispatch and Prehospital Triage in Thailand's Emergency Medical Services: A 10-Year National Trend Analysis and Policy Implications.Journal of healthcare leadership · 2026Article
- Impact of two-level filtering organization on population's accessibility to an emergency medical communication centre.BMC emergency medicine · 2025Observational
- Detection of obvious death by clinically trained emergency medical dispatchers in a criteria-based dispatch system.International journal of emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Cleared to land? A nationwide analysis of emergency care hospital and HEMS infrastructure in Germany.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Telemedicine for prehospital respiratory emergencies in a retrospective quality analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Effort-reward-imbalance, burnout, and physical pain mediate the relationship between overcommitment and depression in German Emergency Medical Technicians.Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2025Article
- Introducing an on-site Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) physician at the Emergency Medical Communication Centre - implications for dispatch precision at a Norwegian HEMS base.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025Article
- The urgent need for patients' diagnoses and outcome feedback in Germany's emergency medical services - insights from a web-based survey.BMC emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Competence expected from advanced-level paramedics by emergency medical services managers in Finland: a modified Delphi study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Hospital admissions following emergency medical services in Germany: analysis of 2 million hospital cases in 2022.Medizinische Klinik, Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin · 2025Article
- Epidemiological characteristics and trends of pre-hospital emergency care in Handan, China from 2011 to 2024.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prehospital emergency medical service: a scoping review.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Emergency call utilization over a 10-years period: an observational study in Region Zealand, Denmark, 2013-2022.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2024Observational
- Close-Up on Ambulance Service Estimation in Indonesia: Monte Carlo Simulation Study.Interactive journal of medical research · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in Germany is increasingly challenged by strongly rising demand. Speculations about a greater utilisation for minor cases have led to intensive media coverage, but empirical evidence is lacking. We investigated the development of low-acuity calls from 2018 to 2021 in the federal state of Berlin and its correlations with sociodemographic characteristics.
methodsWe analysed over 1.5 million call documentations including medical dispatch codes, age, location and time using descriptive and inferential statistics and multivariate binary logistic regression. We defined a code list to classify low-acuity calls and merged the dataset with sociodemographic indicators and data on population density.
resultsThe number of emergency calls (phone number 112 in Germany) increased by 9.1% from 2018 to 2021; however, the proportion of low-acuity calls did not increase. The regression model shows higher odds of low-acuity for young to medium age groups (especially for age 0-9, OR 1.50 [95% CI 1.45-1.55]; age 10-19, OR 1.77 [95% CI 1.71-1.83]; age 20-29, OR 1.64 [95% CI 1.59-1.68] and age 30-39, OR 1.40 [95% CI 1.37-1.44]; p < 0.001, reference group 80-89) and for females (OR 1.12 [95% CI 1.1-1.13], p < 0.001). Odds were slightly higher for calls from a neighbourhood with lower social status (OR 1.01 per index unit increase [95% CI 1.0-1.01], p < 0.05) and at the weekend (OR 1.02 [95% CI 1.0-1.04, p < 0.05]). No significant association of the call volume with population density was detected.
conclusionsThis analysis provides valuable new insights into pre-hospital emergency care. Low-acuity calls were not the primary driver of increased EMS utilisation in Berlin. Younger age is the strongest predictor for low-acuity calls in the model. The association with female gender is significant, while socially deprived neighbourhoods play a minor role. No statistically significant differences in call volume between densely and less densely populated regions were detected. The results can inform the EMS in future resource planning.
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