2022 Volume 72 Issue 2 Pages 57-64
Abstract:［Aim］ The aim of this study was to determine the effect of rotating night shift support by physicians from the Department of Regional Emergency Medicine on managing challenging cases requiring emergency transport, all of which occurred under the jurisdiction of Fukushima City Fire Station. ［Method］ Data on challenging cases during a 4-year period （January 2017 to December 2020） were obtained from the Fukushima City Fire Station emergency transport records. Ambulance transport time records from four hospitals （Hospitals A to D）, to which the rotating night shift support physicians were sent, were also obtained. We determined the number of ambulance transports that occurred during the study period at each supported hospital and divided them into days on which support from our department was provided （supported-days group） and not provided （non-supported-days group）. We then determined the number and percentage of challenging emergency transport cases in both groups. ［Results］ The number of challenging emergency transport cases was significantly lower in the supported-days group than in the non-supported-days group at all four hospitals:Hospital A, 6 vs. 34 （p < 0.001）; Hospital B, 7 vs. 26 （p < 0.001）; Hospital C, 5 vs. 35 （p < 0.001）; and Hospital D, 0 vs. 28 （p = 0.025）. ［Conclusion］ Rotating night shift support by physicians from our department significantly reduced the number of challenging cases requiring emergency ambulance transport in Fukushima City. Rotating appropriate triage by emergency medicine physicians may be a useful model in areas where there is a shortage of emergency medicine physicians.
