Profile of attendances made by an Advanced Support Unit from the Mobile Emergency Care Service (MECS) of Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil

AIMS: To describe the profile of care provided by a Mobile Emergency Care Service from Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, aiming to contribute to the planning and organization of mobile emergency services. METODS: A retrospective cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach was conducted in the Municipality of Ijui, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Data were collected in the service bulletins from September 2011 to August 2012, submitted to descriptive statistical analysis and presented with numbers and percentages. RESULTS: Six hundred twenty-four reports of attendance were analyzed and the results indicate that emergency calls predominate, although need for transport exhibit significant demand. The cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological reasons were prevalent in clinical subjects. For the traumatic subjects, the most common cause was traffic collision. Most requests originated from the home and much of the population was male, aged between 60-79 years. The least amount of calls were received during the early morning hours. The most common procedures were pulse oximetry, oxygen, puncturing peripheral venous access, immobilization in stretcher and neck brace placement. The local hospital was the main destination for patients. CONCLUSIONS: The patients attended by the Advanced Support Unit from the Mobile Emergency Care Service of Ijui were predominantly men between 60 and 79 years suffering from chronic degenerative diseases. The procedures performed most frequently were for basic life support. These results should guide the update of the professionals and the organization of emergency mobile service