ECG pre-hospital teletransmission by emergency teams staffed with an emergency physician and paramedics and its impact on transportation and hospital admission

• Published in: Medicine (Baltimore) 2019-08, Vol.98 (34), p.e16636-e16636
• Main Authors: Sowizdraniuk, Joanna, Smereka, Jacek, Ladny, Jerzy Robert, Kaserer, Alexander, Palimonka, Krzysztof, Ruetzler, Kurt, Skierczynska, Agnieszka, Szarpak, Lukasz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cardiac Care Facilities - organization & administration; Cardiologists - organization & administration; Electrocardiography - methods; Emergency Medical Services - organization & administration; Humans; Observational Study; Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest - diagnosis; Patient Admission; Retrospective Studies; Telemedicine - organization & administration
• ISSN: 0025-7974; 1536-5964
• DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000016636

Electrocardiography (ECG) is essential to detect and diagnose life threatening cardiac conditions and to determine further treatment. Correct interpretation of an ECG can be challenging, especially in the out-of-hospital setting and by less experienced emergency team members.The aim of this study was to compare the rate of ECG transmission from an out-of-hospital emergency scene to an in-hospital cardiologist on call in EMS-B and EMS-S providers and its impact on direct transportation to a cardiac catheterization laboratory and hospital admission.The study was designed as an observational study. Data from 3 separate emergency medical service teams were collected. Two teams are staffed by paramedics only (EMT-B), while another specialized team is staffed with an emergency physician (EMT-S). 5864 out-of-hospital emergencies were performed during a 12-month period and were analyzed for this study.In 124 out of 5864 (2.1%) out-of-hospital emergencies, an ECG transmission from the out-of-hospital scene to an in-hospital cardiologist on call was performed. Rate of transmission was similar between both teams (EMT-B n = 70, 2.2% vs EMT-S n = 54, 2.0%, P = .054). After coordinating with the cardiologist on call, 11 patients (15.7%) of the EMT-B (15.7%) and 24 patients (44.4%) of the EMT-S were directly transported from the scene of emergency to a cardiac catheterization laboratory (P