Impact analysis of emergency intervention on 120 ambulance dispatchers in Chongqing city with regression discontinuity designs / 中华急诊医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the impact of emergency response to public health emergencies on the efficiency of pre-hospital emergency work, and study the degree of impact on 120 ambulance dispatchers in Chongqing city during pre-periods and post-periods of the emergency intervention.Methods:Taking 120 phone answering and ambulance operation efficiency as the research subjects, we collected pre-hospital emergency case data from a city's emergency medical center, covering the period from November 10, 2021 to January 6, 2023. The cases were divided into groups according to the time periods of emergency response. A regression discontinuity design method was employed to compare the response of emergency intervention to the predictions (virtual cases) without the emergency intervention, obtaining the average intervention effect.Results:During the study period of 27 days, the number of 120 calls picked up within 10 seconds increased from 11 000 to 19 000, but the answering rate slightly decreased within 10 seconds. The vacancy rate of 120 ambulances during emergency response decreased from 0.39% to 0.20%, but the completion rate within 18 minutes decreased from 72% to 30%. In this particular emergency response period, the number of patient complaints (such as high fever and difficulty breathing) increased compared to the pre-period of emergency response.Conclusion:Emergency response significantly impacts pre-hospital emergency work such as emergency phone answering and ambulance operation efficiency. This study provides empirical research results and decision-making support for urban emergency medical services to respond to public health emergencies.