Pediatric Behavioral Health-Related EMS Encounters: A Statewide Analysis.

CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric behavioral-health related EMS encounters had a significant proportion of suspected ingestions/substance use, and we found disproportionate effects on rural agencies. Increases in EMS resource utilization (including longer EMS times) occurred in certain settings with limited behavioral health infrastructure. Those findings suggest an opportunity for community paramedicine to alleviate EMS utilization and decrease the frequency of pediatric behavioral health emergencies. PMID: 30612501 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Prehospital Emergency Care - Category: Endocrinology Tags: Prehosp Emerg Care Source Type: research