Use of intramuscular ketamine by paramedics in the management of severely agitated patients.

OBJECTIVE: Administration of a sedative agent is required for safe transport of prehospital patients with severe agitation to EDs. Ambulance services in Australasia use ketamine, droperidol or midazolam as first line agent but the optimal agent is uncertain. In Victoria, intramuscular (IM) ketamine is used. The present study aimed to examine the prehospital characteristics and ED outcomes of patients with severe agitation after IM ketamine administration. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted for patients who received IM ketamine for severe agitation over a 2-year period. Data were sourced from Ambulance Victoria and linked to hospital data. The primary outcome was time to sedation. Data collected included baseline characteristics, adverse events and ED outcomes. RESULTS: Three hundred and fifty-eight prehospital cases transported to 32 hospitals were included. Outcome data were available for 305 patients (21 hospitals). Median age was 31 years (IQR 23-40). 71.2% were male. Adequate sedation was achieved in 96.9% of cases in a median time of 5.0 min (IQR 3.0-7.0; range 1-31 min). Adverse events were transient hypoxia (5.0%), hyper-salivation (4.2%) and emergence reactions (0.8%). A total of 45 (14.8%) patients were intubated; two prehospital. CONCLUSION: Intramuscular ketamine is effective with a low rate of prehospital complications in severely agitated patients in the prehospital setting. Given the variation in ambulance practice in Australasia, prospective, randomised trials in the prehospital setting comparing ketamine to other sedating agents such as droperidol in patients with severe agitation are required.

The epidemiology of elderly falls attended by emergency medical services in Victoria, Australia.

BACKGROUND: With an increase in the proportion of older people in the community comes an increase in the demand on emergency medical services (EMS) by elderly patients who have fallen. OBJECTIVE: To describe the epidemiology of elderly falls patients attended by EMS in Victoria, Australia and identify predictors of transport and repeat falls. METHODS: A retrospective review included all elderly (age ≥ 65 years) falls patients attended by EMS between 2010 and 2017. Patient characteristics are described using descriptive statistics. Predictors of transport to hospital and repeat falls were identified using multivariable logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Between 2010 and 2017 EMS attended 324,060 elderly falls patients, which represents 9.7% of EMS attended workload in Victoria. The median age of patients was 83 years (IQR: 76-88) and 60.2% were female. Comorbidities and medication use were common, while private residence (64.3%) and nursing home (20.0%) were common scene locations. Overall, 78.8% of falls events resulted in transport to hospital by EMS. Predictors of transport to hospital included female gender, one or more pre-existing medical conditions or current medications and meeting the pre-hospital trauma triage criteria or hospital major trauma criteria. To investigate predictors of repeat falls, the follow-up period was restricted to 12-months post initial fall, which resulted in 30,997 patients and 42,873 (13.2%) repeat fall incidents. The median number of days between the initial fall and a second fall was 98 (IQR: 27-206). Predictors of repeat falls included living at a nursing home, one or more pre-existing medical conditions and one or more current medications. CONCLUSIONS: Older falls patients place significant demand on EMS resources in Victoria, Australia, accounting for 9.7% of EMS attendances. Despite high demand, just 3.8% of elderly falls patients received a 'lights and sirens' emergency transport response to hospital. Furthermore, a large number of falls incidents recorded during the study period were repeat falls. Access to alternative pathways of care like GP referral, allied and community health services may benefit this patient group. Development and enrolment into such programs may improve patient outcomes by minimising falls risk and decrease demand on EMS and hospital resources.

Descriptive Analysis Of Mental Health-Related Presentations To Emergency Medical Services.

OBJECTIVE: In many developed countries, a lack of community-based mental health services is driving increased utilization of emergency medical services (EMS). In this descriptive study, we sought to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of mental health-related EMS presentations in Victoria, Australia. METHODS: A retrospective observational study of EMS presentations occurring between January and December 2015. Computer Aided Dispatch and electronic patient care record data were extracted from an electronic data warehouse. Characteristics of EMS-attended mental health presentations were described and compared to other EMS-attended patients using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Of the total 504,676 EMS attendances, 48,041 (9.5%) were mental health presentations. In addition, 4,708 (6.6%) cases managed by a paramedic or nurse via the EMS secondary telephone triage service also involved mental health complaints. EMS-attended mental health patients were younger and more often female compared to other patients attended by EMS. Most mental health patients were transported to hospital (74.4%); however, paramedics provided treatment to significantly fewer mental health patients compared to other EMS-attended patients (12.4% vs. 50.3%, p < 0.001%). The majority of mental health patients (76.8%) had a documented mental health history. Social or emotional issues were the most common presentation in mental health patients aged ≤15 years (19.1%); whereas, for patients aged ≥65 years, anxiety was the most common clinical presentation (41.2%). For patients undergoing secondary triage, 52.5% were frequent callers or anxiety presentations. A total of 27.7% of triaged patients were referred to an alternative service, while 24.6% were managed under an existing care plan. CONCLUSION: Mental health-related cases represent one in ten EMS attendances in Victoria. A large proportion of mental health presentations receive little intervention by EMS, and could benefit from community-based services provided by mental health clinicians.