Baseline characteristics according to documented non-transport reason
| Overall* | Transport not required | Transported by other means | Referred to GP/Another provider | Transport refused | |
| N=62 975 | N=30 789 | N=9451 | N=11 254 | N=9171 | |
| Age category, n (%) | |||||
| 0–11 months | 8337 (13.2) | 4177 (13.6) | 1340 (14.2) | 1410 (12.5) | 1124 (12.3) |
| 1–4 years | 20 476 (32.5) | 9136 (29.7) | 3931 (41.6) | 3888 (34.5) | 3007 (32.8) |
| 5–11 years | 15 111 (24.0) | 7439 (24.2) | 2196 (23.2) | 2841 (25.2) | 2103 (22.9) |
| 12–17 years | 19 051 (30.3) | 10 037 (32.6) | 1984 (21.0) | 3115 (27.7) | 2937 (32.0) |
| Male gender, n (%) | 30 343 (48.9) | 16 104 (52.3) | 4454 (47.2) | 5694 (50.6) | 4689 (51.1) |
| Hour of day, n (%) | |||||
| 00:00–04:00 | 7516 (11.9) | 3364 (10.9) | 1257 (13.3) | 1418 (12.6) | 1256 (13.7) |
| 04:00–08:00 | 3988 (6.3) | 1556 (5.1) | 571 (6.0) | 1126 (10.0) | 613 (6.7) |
| 08:00–12:00 | 8685 (13.8) | 4357 (14.2) | 1099 (11.6) | 1824 (16.2) | 1068 (11.7) |
| 12:00–16:00 | 12 874 (20.4) | 6633 (21.5) | 1715 (18.2) | 2274 (20.2) | 1703 (18.6) |
| 16:00–20:00 | 14 918 (23.7) | 7674 (24.9) | 2265 (24.0) | 2290 (20.4) | 2132 (23.3) |
| 20:00–00:00 | 14 994 (23.8) | 7205 (23.4) | 2544 (26.9) | 2322 (20.6) | 2399 (26.2) |
| Weekend, n (%) | 18 688 (29.7) | 9346 (30.4) | 2993 (31.7) | 2868 (25.5) | 2785 (30.4) |
| Remoteness Index, n (%) | |||||
| Major city | 46 300 (77.8) | 21 749 (72.7) | 7427 (80.1) | 9659 (86.9) | 7306 (81.6) |
| Inner regional area | 11 383 (19.1) | 6837 (22.9) | 1670 (18.0) | 1341 (12.1) | 1475 (16.5) |
| Outer regional area/Remote | 1825 (3.1) | 1340 (4.5) | 175 (1.9) | 110 (1.0) | 174 (1.9) |
| Missing (%) | 5.5 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 2.4 |
| EMS dispatch code, n (%) | |||||
| Time critical (lights and sirens) | 35 978 (57.2) | 18 032 (58.6) | 5269 (55.8) | 6657 (59.2) | 5546 (60.6) |
| Urgent | 20 998 (33.4) | 10 128 (32.9) | 3401 (36.0) | 3556 (31.6) | 3021 (33.0) |
| Non-urgent | 5924 (9.4) | 2591 (8.4) | 776 (8.2) | 1026 (9.1) | 590 (6.4) |
| Missing (%) | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Case nature, n (%) | |||||
| Medical | 34 283 (57.2) | 14 160 (47.2) | 6033 (64.8) | 8082 (72.6) | 5746 (63.4) |
| Trauma | 16 170 (27.0) | 9265 (30.9) | 2585 (27.8) | 1958 (17.6) | 2277 (25.2) |
| Other | 9526 (15.9) | 6557 (21.9) | 690 (7.4) | 1092 (9.8) | 1035 (11.4) |
| Missing (%) | 4.8 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 1.3 |
| Paramedic diagnosis, n (%) | |||||
| Mental health/Social/Behavioural issue or Alcohol/Drug problem | 6602 (10.8) | 4203 (13.7) | 526 (5.6) | 967 (8.6) | 823 (9.0) |
| Respiratory condition | 6879 (11.2) | 2324 (7.6) | 1755 (18.6) | 1639 (14.6) | 1155 (12.6) |
| Neurological condition | 4566 (7.5) | 1897 (6.2) | 513 (5.4) | 818 (7.3) | 1321 (14.4) |
| Infection | 6881 (11.2) | 2179 (7.1) | 1521 (16.1) | 2078 (18.5) | 1094 (11.9) |
| Gastrointestinal/Genitourinary condition | 2350 (3.8) | 960 (3.1) | 407 (4.3) | 675 (6.0) | 308 (3.4) |
| Other medical condition | 5502 (9.0) | 2653 (8.6) | 827 (8.8) | 1163 (10.3) | 842 (9.2) |
| Musculoskeletal issue/Traumatic injury | 7563 (12.4) | 3790 (12.3) | 1775 (18.8) | 1043 (9.3) | 940 (10.3) |
| Pain | 4118 (6.7) | 1745 (5.7) | 751 (8.0) | 891 (7.9) | 726 (7.9) |
| No problem identified | 13 339 (21.8) | 9355 (30.4) | 840 (8.9) | 1575 (14.0) | 1548 (16.9) |
| Unknown problem | 3438 (5.6) | 1683 (5.5) | 536 (5.7) | 405 (3.6) | 414 (4.5) |
| Paramedic intervention, n (%) | 5728 (9.4) | 2493 (8.1) | 1404 (14.9) | 989 (8.8) | 822 (9.0) |
| Abnormal vital sign, n (%) | 15 454 (24.5) | 7283 (23.7) | 2610 (27.6) | 2662 (23.7) | 2664 (29.0) |
*Includes 2108 patients for whom ‘not transported reason’ is unknown. Proportions exclude missing data.
EMS, emergency medical services; GP, general practitioner.