CURRENT EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION STATUS IN CHUWA DISTRICT OF NARA PREFECTURE

Our Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine in Nara Medical University opened in May, 1990. We evaluate and summarize current emergency patient transportation status and trends in the Chuwa district of Nara Prefecture on the basis of emergency transportation reports from several Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in this area. The number of outpatients in our department has decreased gradually. However, the ratio of severe patients has increased. The number of patients who visited the weekend- clinic and secondary emergency hospitals increased in Kashihara city. The number of emergency patients transported has been increasing according to the reports of EMS in the Chuwa district. However, the indistrict ratio (the ratio of patients transported to facilities inside the district which each EMS is responsible for) varied for the different EMS. The indistrict ratio increased in Chuwa and Nishikikatsuragi EMS, whereas it decreased in Sakurai and Kashiba-Koryo EMS. The time of patient transport tended to increase year after year in all EMS with the exception of Nishikatsuragi EMS. Although the in-district ratio increased, the time of patient transport tended to increase in the Chuwa district. The elongation of the addressing period to the receiving hospital, in addition to the increased time for emergency staff to reach the scene are considered to account for this situation. The increased time of patient transport in Sakurai and Kashiba -Koryo EMS was considered to be attributable to the decrease in the in-district ratio. An increase in the in-district ratio and a decrease in patient transport time were observed in Nishikatsuragi EMS every year, which was considered a model district for emergancy medicine