National Ambulance Surveillance System: A novel method using coded Australian ambulance clinical records to monitor self-harm and mental health-related morbidity.

Self-harm and mental health are inter-related issues that substantially contribute to the global burden of disease. However, measurement of these issues at the population level is problematic. Statistics on suicide can be captured in national cause of death data collected as part of the coroner's review process, however, there is a significant time-lag in the availability of such data, and by definition, these sources do not include non-fatal incidents. Although survey, emergency department, and hospitalisation data present alternative information sources to measure self-harm, such data do not include the richness of information available at the point of incident. This paper describes the mental health and self-harm modules within the National Ambulance Surveillance System (NASS), a unique Australian system for monitoring and mapping mental health and self-harm. Data are sourced from paramedic electronic patient care records provided by Australian state and territory-based ambulance services. A team of specialised research assistants use a purpose-built system to manually scrutinise and code these records. Specific details of each incident are coded, including mental health symptoms and relevant risk indicators, as well as the type, intent, and method of self-harm. NASS provides almost 90 output variables related to self-harm (i.e., type of behaviour, self-injurious intent, and method) and mental health (e.g., mental health symptoms) in the 24 hours preceding each attendance, as well as demographics, temporal and geospatial characteristics, clinical outcomes, co-occurring substance use, and self-reported medical and psychiatric history. NASS provides internationally unique data on self-harm and mental health, with direct implications for translational research, public policy, and clinical practice. This methodology could be replicated in other countries with universal ambulance service provision to inform health policy and service planning.

Impact of the Four-Hour Rule policy on emergency medical services delays in Australian EDs: a longitudinal cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Delayed handover of emergency medical services (EMS) patients to EDs is a major issue with hospital crowding considered a primary cause. We explore the impact of the 4-hour rule (the Policy) in Australia, focusing on ambulance and ED delays. METHODS: EMS (ambulance), ED and hospital data of adult patients presenting to 14 EDs from 2002 to 2013 in three jurisdictions were linked. Interrupted time series 'Before-and-After' trend analysis was used for assessing the Policy's impact. Random effects meta-regression analysis was examined for associations between ambulance delays and Policy-associated ED intake, throughput and output changes. RESULTS: Before the Policy, the proportion of ED ambulances delayed increased between 1.1% and 1.7% per quarter across jurisdictions. After Policy introduction, Western Australia's increasing trend continued but Queensland decreased by 5.1% per quarter. In New South Wales, ambulance delay decreased 7.1% in the first quarter after Policy introduction. ED intake (triage delay) improved only in New South Wales and Queensland. Each 1% ambulance delay reduction was significantly associated with a 0.91% reduction in triage delay (p=0.014) but not ED length of stay ≤4 hours (p=0.307) or access-block/boarding (p=0.605) suggesting only partial improvement in ambulance delay overall. CONCLUSION: The Policy was associated with reduced ambulance delays over time in Queensland and only the immediate period in New South Wales. Associations may be due to local jurisdictional initiatives to improve ambulance performance. Strategies to alleviate ambulance delay may need to focus on the ED intake component. These should be re-examined with longer periods of post-Policy data.

The National Ambulance Surveillance System: A novel method for monitoring acute alcohol, illicit and pharmaceutical drug related-harms using coded Australian ambulance clinical records.

Although harmful consumption of alcohol and other drugs (both illicit and pharmaceutical) significantly contribute to global burden of disease, not all harms are captured within existing morbidity data sources. Indeed, harms occurring in the community may be missed or under-reported. This paper describes the National Ambulance Surveillance System, a unique Australian system for monitoring and mapping acute harms related to alcohol and other drug consumption. Data are sourced from paramedic electronic patient care records provided by ambulance services from across Australia. Coding occurs in a purpose-built system, by a team of specialised research assistants. Alcohol, and specific illicit and pharmaceutical drugs, rather than broad drug classes, are manually coded and the dataset is reviewed and cleaned prior to analysis. The National Ambulance Surveillance System is an ongoing, dynamic surveillance system of alcohol and other drug-related harms across Australia. The data includes more than 140 output variables per attendance, including individual substances, demographics, temporal, geospatial, and clinical data (e.g., Glasgow Coma Scale score, naloxone provision and response, outcome of attendance). The National Ambulance Surveillance System is an internationally unique population-level surveillance system of acute harms arising from alcohol and other drug consumption. Dissemination of National Ambulance Surveillance System data has been used to inform and evaluate policy approaches and potential points of intervention, as well as guide workforce development needs and clinical practice at the local and national level. This methodology could be replicated in other countries.