Comparison of ambulance usage characteristics in children between the
pre-pandemic and pandemic periods in Turkey
Abstract
Aim: A pandemic is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread
across a large region of the world and affects many people. In this
study, it was aimed to evaluate the impact of the coronavirus disease
2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on ambulance use by pediatric patients in
……………., Turkey. Materials and
Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in the spring-summer of
2019 and 2020. The electronic medical records of pediatric patients who
were transported to the hospital by ambulance were analyzed. Results: It
was determined that 49.6% of the 23,201 patients included in the study
were transported during the pandemic period. Male gender was higher in
both the pandemic and pre-pandemic periods, there was no difference in
terms of average age. The rate of forensic cases and refugee patients
increased, while that of emergency patients decreased. Both the arrival
at the scene time and intervention time were prolonged. Medical cause
was the most common cause of emergency calls in both years, however, it
increased significantly in 2020. The decrease in cases of traffic
accidents, suicides, and other accidents was statistically significant.
In the pandemic period, total rate of COVID-19 infection and suspicion
was 29.7%. Most of the patients had been referred to a public hospital.
Conclusion: It was found that most of the ambulances were used for
transporting patients with minor illnesses that did not require
immediate medical attention.