Lessons of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Ambulance Service in Kazakhstan
Messova A. Pivina L. Ygiyeva D. Batenova G. Dyussupov A. Jamedinova U. Syzdykbayev M. Adilgozhina S. Bayanbaev A.
August 2024Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
Healthcare (Switzerland)
2024#12Issue 16
Background: Emergency medical services (EMS) are intended to provide people with immediate, effective, and safe access to the healthcare system. The effects of pandemics on emergency medical services (EMS) have not been studied sufficiently. The aim of this paper is to assess the frequency and structure of calls at an ambulance station in Kazakhstan during the period of 2019–2023. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted to estimate the incidence of emergency assistance cases from 2019 to 2023. Results: An analysis of the structure and number of ambulance calls before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and post-pandemic period did not reveal significant changes, except for calls in urgency category IV. Patients of urgency category IV handled by an ambulance decreased by 2 and 1.7 times in 2020 and 2021, respectively, which appears to be related to quarantine measures. In 2022 and 2023, category IV calls were 4.7 and 4.5 times higher than in 2019. Conclusions: This study’s findings suggest no changes in the dynamics of ambulance calls, except urgency category IV calls. The number of category IV urgent calls decreased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic and increased in the post-pandemic period.
ambulance service , consultation , COVID-19 , emergency , Kazakhstan
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Department of Emergency Medicine, Semey Medical University, Semey, 071400, Kazakhstan
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Semey Medical University, Semey, 071400, Kazakhstan
Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimatology, Semey Medical University, Semey, 071400, Kazakhstan
Department of Family Medicine, Semey Medical University, Semey, 071400, Kazakhstan
National Coordinating Center for Emergency Assistance, Astana, 10000, Kazakhstan
Department of Emergency Medicine
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimatology
Department of Family Medicine
National Coordinating Center for Emergency Assistance
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