Effect of Critical Care Transport on Patients’ Survival after Inter-Hospital Transport of Critically Ill Patients

Park, Yong Joo; Lee, Kyung Won; Jeong, Joo; Jang, Ik Wan; Ahn, Ki Ok; Ro, Young Sun; Shin, Sang Do

J Korean Soc Emerg Med > Volume 28(1); 2017 > Article

Original Article

Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine 2017;28(1): 1-16.

중증환자 이송 서비스가 환자의 생존에 미치는 향

박용주¹, 이경원³, 정 주¹, 장익완¹, 안기옥², 노영선², 신상도¹

¹서울대학교병원 응급의학과
²서울대학교병원 의생명연구원 응급의료연구실
³인제대학교 서울백병원 응급의학과

Effect of Critical Care Transport on Patients’ Survival after Inter-Hospital Transport of Critically Ill Patients

Yong Joo Park¹, Kyung Won Lee³, Joo Jeong¹, Ik Wan Jang¹, Ki Ok Ahn², Young Sun Ro², Sang Do Shin¹

¹Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea
²Laboratory of Emergency Medical Services, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea
³Department of Emergency Medicine, Inje University Seoul Paik Hospital, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence

Kyung Won Lee ,Tel: 02-2270-0119, Fax: 02-2270-0586, Email: emkwlee@gmail.com,

Received: January 20, 2017; Revised: January 31, 2017 Accepted: February 6, 2017. Published online: February 28, 2017.

ABSTRACT

Purpose:
Critical care transport (CCT) has been known to be beneficial for inter-hospital transport of critically ill patients. Seoul Mobile Intensive Care Unit (SMICU) has been established and provided CCT in Seoul Metropolitan City since 2015. We tested the association between SMICU transport and hospital outcome for critically ill patients.
Method:
This is a before and after intervention study. SMICU group with cardiac arrest, acute myocardial infarction, acute stroke, major trauma, respiratory failure, and shock who were transported by SMICU from January to July 2016 were collected as an intervention group. Non-SMICU group with the same above diagnosis criteria who were transported by private ambulance services during same period in 2015. By National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS), demographics were compared for original data and sampling data. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was done to calculate the adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) adjusting for potential confounders.
Results:
Total 1,837 patients (128 SMICU and 1,709 non-SMICU group) for original dataset and 180 patients (60 SMICU and 120 non-SMICU group) for sampling dataset were finally analyzed. Hospital mortality rates are 22.7% in SMICU and 11.8% in non-SMICU in original dataset (p<0.001), 26.7% in SMICU and 31.7% in non-SMICU in sampling dataset (p=0.490), respectively. AOR (95% CIs) for hospital mortality by SMICU in original and sampling dataset were 0.80 (0.481.35) and 0.71 (0.33-1.51), respectively.
Conclusion:
The CCT for critically ill patients did not show significantly better hospital mortality in the pilot study.

Key words: Emergency medical services, Transportation of patients, Critical care, Mortality