Emergency medical service transports during the COVID-19 pandemic : A retrospective population-based study in an Austrian state.

OBJECTIVE

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on 11 March 2020. Austria faced three consecutive lockdowns, drastically limiting social and economic life, with a profound impact on health care. This study aims to describe pediatric emergency transport, with a focus on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state of Vorarlberg, Austria.

METHODS

In this population-based study, medical records of children aged > 28 days to 18 years (n = 630) received from the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Vorarlberg were analyzed over a study period ranging from 1 January 2020 to 3 May 2021 for age, diagnosis, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) score, vital signs, interventions, and transport time. The data were analyzed and compared between lockdown and non-lockdown periods.

RESULTS

We observed a significant reduction in emergency transports during lockdown (p = 0.021). Comparisons of various diseases showed no significant differences between lockdown and non-lockdown periods, nor in comparison to the period before the pandemic. The severity of diseases, as evaluated via the NACA score, did not differ between lockdown and non-lockdown periods, nor in comparison to a previous study conducted in the same region of Austria before the pandemic. We saw an increase in documented vital parameters as compared to before the pandemic and, overall, significantly less monitoring in the youngest age group (χ2(3, n = 630) = 20.933, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on health care in Austria, as reflected by a significant decrease in emergency transports but no difference in the distribution or severity of diseases during lockdown. While documentation increased, possibly due to heightened alertness during the pandemic, the examination and evaluation of infants and young children remained a challenging task.