Decrease in paediatric emergency room visits during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions: A population-based study.

AIM: To investigate paediatric emergency room (ER) visits to evaluate the immediate health effects of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on children. METHODS: We retrospectively examined paediatric ER visits in the Helsinki University Hospital (HUH) district during the first wave of the pandemic (1 March to 31 May 2020), and a 2-month period immediately before and after. These periods were compared to the corresponding time periods in 2015-2019 ('reference period'). RESULTS: The total number of ER visits decreased by 23.4% (mean 6474 during the reference period, 4960 during the pandemic period (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 0.75, 95% confidence interval 0.72-0.77; p < 0.001). This was due to a decrease in visits related to infectious diseases; visits due to surgical reasons did not decrease. The amount or proportion of patients triaged to the most urgent class (Emergency Severity Index 1) did not increase. Paediatric ER visits returned to baseline after lifting of restrictions. CONCLUSIONS: Although paediatric ER visits substantially decreased during the pandemic restrictions, children seen at the ER were not more severely ill. Our results do not indicate immediate detrimental health effects of pandemic control measures on children.

Validation of Score to Detect Intracranial Lesions in Unconscious Patients in Prehospital Setting.

OBJECTIVES: Recognizing stroke and other intracranial pathologies in prehospital phase facilitates prompt recanalization and other specific care. Recognizing these can be difficult in patients with decreased level of consciousness. We previously derived a scoring system combining systolic blood pressure, age and heart rate to recognize patients with intracranial pathology. In this study we aimed to validate the score in a larger, separate population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a register based retrospective study on patients ≥16 years old and Glasgow Coma Score <15 encountered by helicopter emergency medical services. Diagnoses at the end of hospitalization were used to identify if patients had intracranial lesion or not. The performance of score was evaluated by area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC). RESULTS: Of 9,309 patients included, 1,925 (20.7%) had an intracranial lesion including 1,211 cases of stroke. Older age, higher blood pressure and lower heart rate were predictors for an intracranial lesion (P<0.001 for all). The score distinguished patients with intracranial lesion with AUROC of 0.749 (95% CI 0.737 to 0.761). The performance slightly improved if only patients intubated in prehospital phase were included AUROC 0.780 (95% CI 0.770 to 0.806) or convulsion related diagnosis excluded AUROC of 0.788 (95% CI 0.768 to 0.792). CONCLUSIONS: A scoring of systolic blood pressure, heart rate and age help differentiate intracranial lesions in patients with decreased level of consciousness in prehospital care. This may facilitate direct transportation to stroke center and application of neuroprotective measures in prehospital critical care.

Ambulance crew-initiated non-conveyance in the Helsinki EMS system-A retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Ambulance patients are usually transported to the hospital in the emergency medical service (EMS) system. The aim of this study was to describe the non-conveyance practice in the Helsinki EMS system and to report mortality following non-conveyance decisions. METHODS: All prehospital patients ≥16 years attended by the EMS but not transported to a hospital during 2013-2017 were included in the study. EMS mission- and patient-related factors were collected and examined in relation to patient death within 30 days of the EMS non-conveyance decision. RESULTS: The EMS performed 324,207 missions with a patient during the study period. The patient was not transported in 95,909 (29.6%) missions; 72,233 missions met the study criteria. The patient mean age (standard deviation) was 59.5 (22.5) years; 55.5% of patients were female. The most common dispatch codes were malaise (15.0%), suspected decline in vital signs (14.0%), and falling over (12.9%). A total of 960 (1.3%) patients died within 30 days after the non-conveyance decision. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that mortality was associated with the patient's inability to walk (odds ratio 3.19, 95% confidence interval 2.67-3.80), ambulance dispatch due to shortness of breath (2.73, 2.27-3.27), decreased level of consciousness (2.72, 1.75-4.10), decreased blood oxygen saturation (2.64, 2.27-3.06), and abnormal systolic blood pressure (2.48, 1.79-3.37). CONCLUSION: One-third of EMS missions did not result in patient transport to the hospital. Thirty-day mortality was 1.3%. Abnormalities in multiple respiratory-related vital signs were associated with an increased likelihood of death within 30 days.

Frequency, indications and success of out-of-hospital intubations in Finnish children.

BACKGROUND: Earlier studies have shown variable results regarding the success of paediatric emergency endotracheal intubation between different settings and operators. We aimed to describe the paediatric population intubated by physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) and evaluate the factors associated with overall and first-pass success (FPS). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective observational cohort study in Finland including all children less than 16 years old who required endotracheal intubation by a HEMS physician from January 2014 to August 2019. Utilising a national HEMS database, we analysed the incidence, indications, overall and first-pass success rates of endotracheal intubation. RESULTS: A total of 2731 children were encountered by HEMS, and intubation was attempted in 245 (9%); of these, 22 were younger than 1 year, 103 were aged 1-5 years and 120 were aged 6-15 years. The most common indications for airway management were cardiac arrest for the youngest age group, neurological reasons (e.g., seizures) for those aged 1-5 years and trauma for those aged 6-15. The HEMS physicians had an overall success rate of 100% (95% CI: 98-100) and an FPS rate of 86% (95% CI: 82-90). The FPS rate was lower in the youngest age group (p = .002) and for patients in cardiac arrest (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Emergency endotracheal intubation of children is successfully performed by a physician staffed HEMS unit even though these procedures are rare. To improve the care, emphasis should be on airway management of infants and patients in cardiac arrest.

Ultra-Early Differential Diagnosis of Acute Cerebral Ischemia and Hemorrhagic Stroke by Measuring the Prehospital Release Rate of GFAP.

BACKGROUND: Plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and tau are promising markers for differentiating acute cerebral ischemia (ACI) and hemorrhagic stroke (HS), but their prehospital dynamics and usefulness are unknown. METHODS: We performed ultra-sensitivite single-molecule array (Simoa®) measurements of plasma GFAP and total tau in a stroke code patient cohort with cardinal stroke symptoms [National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) ≥3]. Sequential sampling included 2 ultra-early samples, and a follow-up sample on the next morning. RESULTS: We included 272 cases (203 ACI, 60 HS, and 9 stroke mimics). Median (IQR) last-known-well to sampling time was 53 (35-90) minutes for initial prehospital samples, 90 (67-130) minutes for secondary acute samples, and 21 (16-24) hours for next morning samples. Plasma GFAP was significantly higher in patients with HS than ACI (P < 0.001 for <1 hour and <3 hour prehospital samples, and <3 hour secondary samples), while total tau showed no intergroup difference. The prehospital GFAP release rate (pg/mL/minute) occurring between the 2 very early samples was significantly higher in patients with HS than ACI [2.4 (0.6-14.1)] versus 0.3 (-0.3-0.9) pg/mL/minute, P < 0.001. For cases with <3 hour prehospital sampling (ACI n = 178, HS n = 59), a combined rule (prehospital GFAP >410 pg/mL, or prehospital GFAP 90-410 pg/mL together with GFAP release >0.6 pg/mL/minute) enabled ruling out HS with high certainty (NPV 98.4%) in 68% of patients with ACI (sensitivity for HS 96.6%, specificity 68%, PPV 50%). CONCLUSIONS: In comparison to single-point measurement, monitoring the prehospital GFAP release rate improves ultra-early differentiation of stroke subtypes. With serial measurement GFAP has potential to improve future prehospital stroke diagnostics.

Prehospital characteristics of COVID-19 patients in Helsinki - experience of the first wave of the pandemic.

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of knowledge how patients with COVID-19 disease differ from patients with similar signs or symptoms (but who will have a diagnosis other than COVID-19) in the prehospital setting. The aim of this study was to compare the characteristics of these two patient groups met by the emergency medical services. METHODS: All prehospital patients after the World Health Organisation (WHO) pandemic declaration 11.3.2020 until 30.6.2020 were recruited for the study. The patients were screened using modified WHO criteria for suspected COVID-19. Data from the electronic prehospital patient reporting system were linked with hospital laboratory results to check the laboratory confirmation for COVID-19. For comparison, we divided the patients into two groups: screening- and laboratory-positive patients with a hospital diagnosis of COVID-19 and screening-positive but laboratory-negative patients who eventually received a different diagnosis in hospital. RESULTS: A total of 4157 prehospital patients fulfilled the criteria for suspected COVID-19 infection during the study period. Five-hundred-thirty-six (12.9%) of the suspected cases received a laboratory confirmation for COVID-19. The proportion of positive cases in relation to suspected ones peaked during the first 2 weeks after the declaration of the pandemic. In the comparison of laboratory-positive and laboratory-negative cases, there were clinically insignificant differences between the groups in age, tympanic temperature, systolic blood pressure, heart rate, on-scene time, urgency category of the call and mode of transportation. Foreign-language-speakers were overrepresented amongst the positive cases over native language speakers (26,6% vs. 7,4%, p < 0,001). The number of cases in which no signs or symptoms of COVID-19 disease were reported, but patients turned out to have a positive test result was 125 (0,3% of the whole EMS patient population and 11,9% of all verified COVID-19 patients encountered by the EMS). CONCLUSIONS: In a sample of suspected COVID-19 patients, the laboratory-positive and laboratory-negative patients were clinically indistinguishable from each other during the prehospital assessment. Foreign-language-speakers had a high likelihood of having Covid-19. The modified WHO criteria still form the basis of screening of suspected COVID-19 patients in the prehospital setting.

Overlooking the Obvious during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Dyspnoea with Asymmetric Breath Sounds in a Toddler.

BACKGROUND: Paediatric healthcare specialists are concerned about the secondary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children. We report a case of acute respiratory distress in a healthy toddler whose healthcare providers were sidetracked from the correct diagnosis by suspicion of COVID-19. Case Presentation. The patient was a 20-month-old healthy boy. In the morning, he had coughed while drinking milk. He was asymptomatic for the day but presented with acute respiratory distress when lying down in the evening. An ambulance was called, and he was taken to a tertiary hospital's paediatric emergency department, where his condition and oxygen saturation fluctuated. He had mildly elevated temperature and petechiae on his trunk, showed asymmetrical radiographic and auscultatory pulmonary findings, and did not tolerate any exertion. Pneumonia was suspected, SARS-CoV-2 was considered as potential causative agent, and the child was admitted to a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. As the patient did not show clear signs of infection or bronchial obstruction, the events were thoroughly rediscussed with the caregiver next morning. It was then found out that the child had also been eating cashew nuts. Multiple pieces of cashew nuts were removed from the left bronchial tree in a bronchoscopy. After the procedure, all symptoms promptly resolved. Foreign body aspiration-an obvious cause of acute respiratory distress in our patient's age group-was overlooked by experienced emergency medical care providers and paediatric critical care physicians due to the slightly unusual presentation, incomplete anamnestic information, and a bias to consider COVID-19 in the current exceptional circumstances. CONCLUSIONS: Emergency care providers are instructed to consider all patients with respiratory distress as potential COVID-19 patients. However, the clinical course of COVID-19 infection is usually mild in children. Therefore, alternative causes for serious breathing difficulty are more likely, and all differential diagnoses should be considered in the usual unbiased manner.

Why do infants need out-of-hospital emergency medical services? A retrospective, population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The challenges encountered in emergency medical services (EMS) contacts with children are likely most pronounced in infants, but little is known about their out-of-hospital care. Our primary aim was to describe the characteristics of EMS contacts with infants. The secondary aims were to examine the symptom-based dispatch system for nonverbal infants, and to observe the association of unfavorable patient outcomes with patient and EMS mission characteristics. METHODS: In a population-based 5-year retrospective cohort of all 1712 EMS responses for infants (age < 1 year) in Helsinki, Finland (population 643,000, < 1-year old population 6548), we studied 1) the characteristics of EMS missions with infants; 2) mortality within 12 months; 3) pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admissions; 4) medical state of the infant upon presentation to the emergency department (ED); 5) any medication or respiratory support given at the ED; 6) hospitalization; and 7) surgical procedures during the same hospital visit. RESULTS: 1712 infants with a median age of 6.7 months were encountered, comprising 0.4% of all EMS missions. The most common complaints were dyspnea, low-energy falls, and choking. Two infants died on-scene. The EMS transported 683 (39.9%) infants. One (0.1%) infant died during the 12-month follow-up period. Ninety-one infants had abnormal clinical examination upon arrival at the ED. PICU admissions (n = 28) were associated with young age (P < 0.01), a history of prematurity or problems in the neonatal period (P = 0.01), and previous EMS contacts within 72 h (P = 0.04). The adult-derived dispatch codes did not associate with the final diagnoses of the infants. CONCLUSIONS: Infants form a small but distinct group in pediatric EMS care, with specific characteristics differing from the overall pediatric population. Many EMS contacts with infants were nonurgent or medically unjustified, possibly reflecting an unmet need for other family services. The use of adult-derived symptom codes for dispatching is not optimal for infants. Unfavorable patient outcomes were rare. Risk factors for such outcomes include quickly renewed contacts, young age and health problems in the neonatal period.

Arterial and end-tidal carbon dioxide partial pressure difference during prehospital anaesthesia in critically ill patients.

BACKGROUND: Normoventilation is crucial for many critically ill patients. Ventilation is routinely guided by end-tidal capnography during prehospital anaesthesia, based on the assumption of the gap between arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2 ) and end-tidal carbon dioxide partial pressure (PetCO2 ) of approximately 0.5 kPa (3.8 mmHg). METHODS: We retrospectively analysed the airway registry and patient chart data of patients who had been anaesthetised and intubated endotracheally by the prehospital critical care team and had their prehospital arterial blood gases analysed. Bland-Altman analysis was used to estimate the bias and limits of agreement. RESULTS: Altogether 502 patients were included in the study, with a median age of 58 years. The most common patient groups were post-resuscitation (155, 31%), neurological emergencies (96, 19%), intoxication (75, 15%) and trauma (68, 14%). The median of the gap between PaCO2 and PetCO2 was 1.3 kPa (interquartile range 0.7 to 2.2) (9.8 (5.3-16.5) mmHg). Mean bias of PetCO2 was -1.6 kPa/12.0 mmHg (standard deviation 1.7 kPa/12.8 mmHg) with 95% confidence limits of agreement -4.9 to 1.9 kPa (-36.8 to 14.3 mmHg). The gap was ≥ 1.0 kPa (>7.5 mmHg) in 297 (66%, 95% confidence interval 55 to 63) patients. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that end-tidal capnography alone might not be an adequate method to achieve normoventilation for critically ill patients intubated and mechanically ventilated in prehospital setting. Thus, an arterial blood gas analysis might be useful to recognize patients with an increased gap between PaCO2 and PetCO2 .

Pediatric traumas and neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics: A population based study.

BACKGROUND: Identifying pediatric populations at risk for traumas would enable development of emergency medical services and emergency departments for children. Elucidation of the nature of socioeconomic differences in the incidence of pediatric out-of-hospital emergencies is needed to overcome inequities in child health. METHODS: We retrieved all ambulance contacts during 17.12.2014-16.12.2018 involving children (0-15 years) in Helsinki, Finland and separated traumatic and nontraumatic emergencies. We compared the incidences of these emergencies in the pediatric population with socioeconomic markers of the scene of the emergency and of the residential area of the child. RESULTS: Of 11,742 ambulance contacts involving children 4113 (35.0%) were traumatic. Traumatic emergencies occurred more often in neighborhoods with lower median income/household (P=0.043) and were more common in children living in areas with lower median income/inhabitant (P=0.001), higher unemployment (P<0.001), and lower education (P<0.001). The associations were weaker for traumatic than nontraumatic emergencies. Higher proportion of a pediatric population in a residential area (P=0.005) had a protective effect. Exclusion of clinically unnecessary ambulance responses did not change the results. CONCLUSION: Traumatic emergencies in children are more common in areas with lower socioeconomic status. The possible protective effect of urban planning merits further studies. TYPE OF STUDY: Prognostic. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.

A potential method of identifying stroke and other intracranial lesions in a prehospital setting.

BACKGROUND: Identifying stroke and other intracranial lesions in patients with a decreased level of consciousness may be challenging in prehospital settings. Our objective was to investigate whether the combination of systolic blood pressure, heart rate and age could be used to identify intracranial lesions. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective case-control study including patients with a decreased level of consciousness who had their airway secured during prehospital care. Patients with intracranial lesions were identified based on the final diagnoses at the end of hospitalization. We investigated the ability of systolic blood pressure, heart rate and age to identify intracranial lesions and derived a decision instrument. RESULTS: Of 425 patients, 127 had an intracranial lesion. Patients with a lesion were characterized by higher systolic blood pressure, lower heart rate and higher age (P < 0.0001 for all). A systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg had an odds ratio (OR) of 3.5 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.7 to 7.0), and > 170 mmHg had an OR of 8.2 (95% CI 4.5-15.32) for an intracranial lesion (reference: < 140 mmHg). A heart rate < 100 beats/min had an OR of 3.4 (95% CI 2.0 to 6.0, reference: ≥100). Age 50-70 had an OR of 4.1 (95% CI 2.0 to 9.0), and > 70 years had an OR of 10.2 (95% CI 4.8 to 23.2), reference: < 50. Logarithms of ORs were rounded to the nearest integer to create a score with 0-2 points for age and blood pressure and 0-1 for heart rate, with an increasing risk for an intracranial lesion with higher scores. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for the instrument was 0.810 (95% CI 0.850-0.890). CONCLUSIONS: An instrument combining systolic blood pressure, heart rate and age may help identify stroke and other intracranial lesions in patients with a decreased level of consciousness in prehospital settings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not applicable.

Role of oxytocin in prevention of postpartum hemorrhage in unplanned out-of-hospital deliveries treated by emergency medical services.

INTRODUCTION: Intramuscular or intravenous oxytocin is used in out-of-hospital emergency care in Finland to prevent postpartum hemorrhage after unplanned out-of-hospital deliveries. However, the use of oxytocin by emergency medical services is based on in-hospital studies. The aim of this study was to determine whether the use of oxytocin is associated with diminished postpartum hemorrhage after unplanned out-of-hospital deliveries. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We studied patient records covering all unplanned out-of-hospital deliveries in the Helsinki University Hospital area between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2017 inclusive. Oxytocin was available in ambulances responsible for half of the population of the study area and was not available in ambulances responsible for the other half. The study area corresponded to 25% of all deliveries in Finland. The primary outcome was the estimated total bleeding (mL). Secondary outcomes were (1) the first blood hemoglobin value measured in hospital (g/L), (2) whether blood hemoglobin was measured during the first 24 hours after delivery, (3) the need for red blood cell concentrate, (4) the need for uterotonic or prothrombotic medication in-hospital during the first 24 hours, (5) the need for any postpartum operation during the first 24 hours and (6) composite outcome combining the secondary outcomes 2-5. RESULTS: Of all ambulance responses in the study area, .04% concerned out-of-hospital deliveries. There were 216 analyzed out-of-hospital deliveries. Altogether, 111 of these occurred in the area with oxytocin available in ambulances and 105 in the area without. Oxytocin was administered in 57 of the 111 deliveries (51%) where it was available. No differences in the primary outcome (P = .548 for oxytocin available vs not available and P = .381 for oxytocin used vs not used) or secondary outcomes were detected between those deliveries where oxytocin was available vs not available or between those where it was used vs not used. CONCLUSIONS: Out-of-hospital oxytocin was not associated with diminished postpartum hemorrhage in this study setting. Oxytocin does not seem to be an essential drug for all ambulance units. The in-hospital use of oxytocin was not evaluated and thus is not disputed by this study.

Out-of-hospital deaths among children during COVID-19 pandemic: indicator of collateral damage?

We aimed to investigate the out-of-hospital mortality, and the actual prevalence of COVID-19 in children requiring paediatric emergency department (ED) care for infectious symptoms. There were four emergency medical services (EMS) responses concerning children (age 0-15 years) leading to death on-scene in 2 months during the pandemic, and eight during the previous 12 months in the Helsinki University Hospital area, although the number of EMS missions decreased by 18%. The prevalence of COVID-19 in children contacting a paediatric ED for any infectious symptoms during the epidemic peak was only 2.7%.

Paediatric prehospital emergencies and restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Children are less vulnerable to serious forms of the COVID-19 disease. However, concerns have been raised about children being the second victims of the pandemic and its control measures. Therefore, we wanted to study if the pandemic, the infection control measures and their consequences to the society projected to paediatric prehospital emergency medical services (EMS) contacts. METHODS: We conducted a population-based cohort study concerning all children aged 0-15 years with EMS contacts in the Helsinki University Hospital area during 1 March 2020-31 May 2020 (study period) and equivalent periods in 2017-2019 (control periods). We analysed the demographic characteristics, time of EMS contact, reason for EMS contact, priority of the dispatch, reason for transportation, priority of transportation, if any consultations were made or additional units required, any medication or oxygen or fluids given, if intubation was performed, and whether paramedics took precautions when COVID-19 infection was suspected. RESULTS: The number of paediatric EMS contacts decreased by 30.4% from mean of 1794 contacts to 1369 (p=0.003). The EMS contacts were more often due to trauma (+23.7%, p<0.05), dispatched in the most urgent category (+139.9%, p=0.001), additional help and the mobile intensive care unit were more frequently requested (+43.3%, p=0.040 and+46.3%, p=0.049, respectively). However, EMS contacts resulted less often in ambulance transport (-21.1%, p<0.001). Alarmingly, there were four deaths during the study period compared with 0-2 during the control periods. CONCLUSIONS: The number of EMS contacts decreased during the pandemic. Nevertheless, the children encountered by the EMS were more seriously ill than during the control periods.

Outcomes in children evaluated but not transported by ambulance personnel: retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Not all children with an out-of-hospital emergency medical contact are transported by ambulance to the emergency department (ED). Non-transport means that after on-scene evaluation and possible treatment, ambulance personnel may advise the patient to monitor the situation at home or may refer the patient to seek medical attention by other means of transport. As selecting the right patients for ambulance transport is critical for optimising patient safety and resource use, we studied outcomes in non-transported children to identify possible risk groups that could benefit from ambulance transport. METHODS: In a population-based retrospective cohort study of all children aged 0-15 years encountered but not transported by ambulance in Helsinki, Finland, between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2016, we evaluated (1) 12-month mortality, (2) intensive care admissions, (3) unscheduled ED contacts within the following 96 hours after the non-transport decision and (4) the clinical status of the child on presentation to ED in the case of a secondary ED visit. RESULTS: Of all children encountered by out-of-hospital emergency medical services, 3579/7765 (46%) were not transported to ED by ambulance. There was no mortality or intensive care admissions related to the non-transport. The risk factors for an unscheduled secondary ED visit after a non-transport decision were young age (p=0.001), non-transport decision during the early morning hours (p<0.001) and certain dispatch codes, including 'dyspnoea' (p<0.001), 'vomiting/diarrhoea' (p=0.030) and 'mental illness' (p=0.019). We did not detect deterioration in patients' clinical presentation at ED traceable to non-transport decisions. CONCLUSIONS: Not transporting all children by ambulance after an out-of-hospital emergency medical contact was not associated with deaths, intensive care admissions or significant deterioration in general condition in our study population and healthcare system. Special attention and a formal non-transport protocol are warranted in certain subgroups, including infants.

Children in disadvantaged neighbourhoods have more out-of-hospital emergencies: a population-based study.

OBJECTIVE: We wanted to study whether the socioeconomic status of a neighbourhood can predict the incidence of paediatric out-of-hospital emergencies. METHODS: We conducted a population-based prospective study with all paediatric (0-15 years) out-of-hospital emergencies in Helsinki, Finland, in 2012-2013. We compared the geographical distribution of the emergencies in the paediatric population with those of mean income, unemployment level and educational level. The comparison was made both by the scene of the emergency and by the domicile of the patient. We also separately analysed the distribution of emergency medical (EM) contacts that were deemed medically unnecessary. RESULTS: The incidence of out-of-hospital emergencies was higher in areas with lower socioeconomic status and among children living inside those areas. Higher mean income was associated with lower incidence (risk ratio (RR) 0.970, 95% CI 0.957 to 0.983), and lower unemployment level to higher incidence (RR 1.046, 95% CI 1.002 to 1.092) of out-of-hospital emergencies inside a district. Higher mean income was associated with lower incidence of emergencies in the paediatric population living inside a district (RR 0.983, 95% CI 0.974 to 0.993). The distribution of medically unnecessary EM contacts was similar in all areas. CONCLUSIONS: The socioeconomic status of a neighbourhood was associated with the need for EM services (EMS) in the area, and in children living in the area. Overusing EMS for non-urgent or non-medical problems did not explain these findings. Instead, they seem to represent true differences in the incidence of paediatric emergencies.