Patient characteristics and call times for intervention (triage decision recorded) and control groups
| Demographics | Nurse group (n=360) | Paramedic group (n=275) | Control group (n=611) |
|---|---|---|---|
| “n” totals indicate numbers of patients for whom data were available for this particular feature. | |||
| Age, mean, range (SD) | (n=358) | (n=275) | (n=608) |
| 44.5 y, 0.08–98 (27.7) | 44.4 y, 0.5–96 (29.4) | 49.1 y, 0.04–99 (28.5) | |
| Men | 146 (41%) | 107 (39 %) | 265 (43%) |
| Women | 214 (59%) | 168 (61 %) | 346 (57%) |
| Ethnicity: | (n=170) | (n=160) | (n=295) |
| White (UK) | 94 (55.3%) | 90 (56.3%) | 204 (69.2%) |
| White (other) | 15 (8.8%) | 9 (5.6%) | 20 (6.8%) |
| Black Caribbean | 12 (7.1%) | 10 (6.3%) | 12 (4.1%) |
| Black African | 14 (8.2%) | 14 (8.8%) | 11 (3.7%) |
| Black (other) | 2 (1.2%) | 3 (1.9%) | 5 (1.7%) |
| Indian | 13 (7.6%) | 14 (8.8%) | 20 (6.8%) |
| Pakistani | 5 (2.9%) | 3 (1.9%) | 8 (2.7%) |
| Bangladeshi | 3 (1.8%) | 4 (2.5%) | 3 (1.0%) |
| Chinese | 1 (0.6%) | 0 | 1 (0.3%) |
| Other | 11 (6.5%) | 13 (8.1%) | 11 (3.7%) |
| Details of call | |||
| Day of week: | |||
| Monday–Friday | 188 (52.2%) | 219 (79.6%) | 380 (62.2%) |
| Saturday–Sunday | 172 (47.8%) | 56 (20.4%) | 231 (37.8%) |
| Time of day: | |||
| 0700–1100 | 53 (14.7%) | 106 (38.5%) | 98 (16.0%) |
| 1100–1500 | 112 (31.1%) | 47 (17.1%) | 204 (33.4%) |
| 1500–1900 | 123 (34.2%) | 76 (27.6%) | 160 (26.2%) |
| 1900–2300 | 72 (20.0%) | 46 (16.7%) | 149 (24.4%) |
| Season: | |||
| Spring | 113 (31.4%) | 65 (23.6%) | 166 (27.2%) |
| Summer | 58 (16.1%) | 98 (35.6%) | 168 (27.5%) |
| Autumn | 92 (25.6%) | 63 (22.9%) | 130 (21.3%) |
| Winter | 97 (26.9%) | 49 (17.8%) | 147 (24.1%) |
| Problem presented: | (n=324) | (n=253) | (n=600) |
| Neurological/head injury | 30 (9.3%) | 16 (6.3%) | 43 (7.2%) |
| Falls/accidents | 139 (42.9%) | 98 (38.7%) | 353 (58.8%) |
| Sick/unknown | 79 (24.4%) | 76 (30.0%) | 59 (9.8%) |
| Back pain/abdominal pain | 57 (17.6%) | 44 (17.4%) | 86 (14.3%) |
| Other | 19 (5.9%) | 19 (7.5%) | 59 (9.8%) |
| Triage outcome: | (n=360) | (n=275) | |
| Ambulance required | 151 (41.9%) | 154 (56.0%) | – |
| Immediate | 80 (22.2%) | 81 (29.5%) | – |
| Urgent | 71 (19.7%) | 73 (26.5%) | – |
| Ambulance not required | 209 (58.1%) | 121 (44.0%) | – |
| Moderately urgent | 104 (28.9%) | 51 (18.5%) | – |
| Routine | 60 (16.7%) | 28 (10.2%) | – |
| Home care | 45 (12.5%) | 42 (15.3%) | – |
| Ambulance despatch cancelled | 36 (10.0%) | 26 (9.5%) | 1 (0.2%) |