The Ability of Emergency Medical Service Staff to Predict Emergency Department Disposition: A Prospective Study

Purpose

Paramedics' decision to notify receiving hospitals and transport patients to an appropriate healthcare facility is based on the Prediction of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Hospital Admissions guide. This study aimed to assess the paramedics' gestalt on both ward and ICU admission.

Patients and Methods

A prospective study was conducted at King Abdulaziz Medical City between September 2021 and March 2022. Paramedics were asked several questions related to the prediction of the patient's hospital outcome, including emergency department (ED) discharge or hospital admission (ICU or ward). Additional data, such as the time of the ambulance's arrival and the staff years of experience, were collected. The categorical characteristics are presented by frequency and percentage for each category.

Results

This study included 251 paramedics and 251 patients. The average age of the patients was 62 years. Of the patients, 32 (12.7%) were trauma, and 219 (87.3%) were non-trauma patients. Two-thirds of the patients (n=171, 68.1%) were predicted to be admitted to the hospital, and 80 (31.8%) of the EMS staff indicated that the patient do not need a hospital or an ambulance. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of the emergency medical service (EMS) staffs' gestalt for patient admission to the hospital were, respectively (77%), (33%), (16%), and (90%). Further analysis was reported to defend the EMS staffs' gestalt based on the level of EMS staff and the nature of the emergency (medical vs trauma), are reported.

Conclusion

Our study reports a low level of accurately predicting patient admission to the hospital, including the ICU. The results of this study have important implications for enhancing the accuracy of EMS staff predictive ability and ensuring that patients receive appropriate care promptly.

A Novel Assay for Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Formation Independently Predicts Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation and Mortality in Critically Ill Patients

Rationale: Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are important in the host defense against infection, but they also promote intravascular coagulation and multiorgan failure in animal models. Their clinical significance remains unclear, and available assays for patient care lack specificity and reliability.Objectives: To establish a novel assay and test its clinical significance.Methods: A prospective cohort of 341 consecutive adult ICU patients was recruited. The NET-forming capacity of ICU admission blood samples was semiquantified by directly incubating patient plasma with isolated neutrophils ex vivo. The association of NET-forming capacity with Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and 28-day mortality was analyzed and compared with available NET assays.Measurements and Main Results: Using the novel assay, we could stratify ICU patients into four groups with absent (22.0%), mild (49.9%), moderate (14.4%), and strong (13.8%) NET formation, respectively. Strong NET formation was predominantly found in sepsis (P < 0.0001). Adjusted by Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, multivariate regression showed that the degree of NET formation could independently predict disseminated intravascular coagulation and mortality, whereas other NET assays (e.g., cell-free DNA, myeloperoxidase, and myeloperoxidase-DNA complexes) could not. IL-8 concentrations were found to be strongly associated with NET formation, and inhibiting IL-8 significantly attenuated NETosis. Mitogen-activated protein kinase activation by IL-8 has been identified as a major pathway of NET formation in patients.Conclusions: This assay directly measures the NET-forming capacity in patient plasma. This could guide clinical management and enable identification of NET-inducing factors in individual patients for targeted treatment and personalized ICU medicine.