Testing a medically-staffed ambulance in Aarhus. A pilot study

As an attempt to assess the value of a medically-staffed mobile emergency care unit in Aarhus City, we carried out a seven-day experiment (17 hours per day) with an anaesthesiologist and a nurse on duty in a fully equipped vehicle. Aarhus City is an area of approximately 300 km2, with a population of 330,000. The unit responded to emergency calls in 106 patients (38% of all emergency calls during this week). In 31% of all cases the response-time was less than five minutes. Medical disease was diagnosed in 73 patients. Twenty-three patients were suffering from trauma and in three cases the reason for the emergency call was attempted suicide. Fifty-seven percent were treated immediately by the emergency unit, and in 4% of these the treatment was lifesaving. Twenty percent of the patients had their treatment completed outside the hospital. Eighty percent were brought to hospital, 47% with medical assistance. We conclude that there seems to be a basis for a medically-staffed mobile emergency care unit in Aarhus City.