Model for Avoiding Unnecessary Trips to the ED for Falls in Older Patients

When paramedics followed a protocol for risk assessment and consulted with primary care physicians, more than 99% of patients not transported received appropriate care.

Older patients can sustain significant injuries from falls from ground level and are routinely transferred to emergency departments (EDs). Researchers partnered with paramedics and a primary care physician (PCP) group to determine whether protocolized risk stratification and real-time physician consultation could be used by paramedics to safely avoid ED visits for falls in older patients in assisted living facilities. The primary outcome was presence of “a time-sensitive condition,” defined as a wound requiring repair; fracture; need for intensive care unit, operating room, or cardiac catheterization lab; or death within 72 hours.

Enrolled were 953 patients (76% women, median age 86 years) at 22 facilities in a single county in North Carolin…

Reviewing Author

Ali S. Raja, MD, MBA, MPH

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Board Member); American College of Healthcare Executives – Massachusetts (Board Member)

Ali S. Raja, MD, MBA, MPH

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Board Member); American College of Healthcare Executives – Massachusetts (Board Member)

Model for Avoiding Unnecessary Trips to the ED for Falls in Older Patients

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Reviewing Author