%0 Journal Article %A J Turner %A M Bjarkoy %T A5 Characteristics of ambulance category B calls %D 2011 %R 10.1136/emermed-2011-200645.5 %J Emergency Medicine Journal %P e2-e2 %V 28 %N 11 %X Background One of the key recommendations of the 2005 policy document “Taking Healthcare to the patient” was that the category B 19-min response standard be replaced with more clinically focused performance measures. Before developing these new measures a clear description of the nature and type of calls within category B was needed in order to understand the case-mix of this group. We have conducted a descriptive observational study of category B ambulance calls.Methods The study was conducted in two parts. First, a national survey of all ambulance services in England was conducted requesting information on total number of category B calls for 1 year (2007/2008) and the numbers allocated to each AMPDS dispatch category. Secondly, we obtained 2 months of category B call dispatch records and scanned anonymised clinical patient record data from one ambulance service. This information was used to describe clinical acuity and frequency of clinical assessment and interventions.ResultsNational survey—7/11 ambulance services returned data. We found that 50% of the total category B call volume is accounted for by 5 of the 32 main dispatch categories. Diabetic problems and falls were the main categories.Analyses of clinical data—After removing duplicate records 26 882 cases were used. A quarter (25%) of cases had no assessment or intervention other than basic vital sign measurement, 50% had additional clinical assessment but no intervention and 25% required an intervention. The most frequent intervention was oxygen administration. Only 10% of cases required drugs, airway management or other procedures.Conclusions Category B calls comprise a population of patients without time dependant conditions and response time is therefore a poor indicator of the quality of care for this patient group. %U https://emj.bmj.com/content/emermed/28/11/e2.12.full.pdf