Bystander Intervention Prior to The Arrival of Emergency Medical Services: Comparing Assistance across Types of Medical Emergencies

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Prehosp Emerg Care
• Personal Author:
  Faul, Mark ; Aikman, Shelley N. ; Sasser, Scott M.
• Description:
  Objective
  
  To determine the situational circumstances associated with bystander interventions to render aid during a medical emergency.
  
  Methods
  
  This study examined 16.2 million Emergency Medical Service (EMS) events contained within the National Emergency Medical Services Information System. The records of patients following a 9-1-1 call for emergency medical assistance were analyzed using logistic regression to determine what factors influenced bystander interventions. The dependent variable of the model was whether or not a bystander intervened.
  
  Results
  
  EMS providers recorded bystander assistance 11% of the time. The logistic regression model correctly predicted bystander intervention occurrence 71.4% of the time. Bystanders were more likely to intervene when the patient was male (aOR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.12-1.3) and if the patient was older (progressive aOR = 1.10, 1.46 age group 20-29 through age group 60-99). Bystanders were less likely to intervene in rural areas compared to urban areas (aOR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.58-0.59). The highest likelihood of bystander intervention occurred in a residential institution (aOR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.85-1.86) and the lowest occurred on a street or a highway (aOR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.95-0.96). Using death as a reference group, bystanders were most likely to intervene when the patient had cardiac distress/chest pain (aOR = 11.38, 95% CI = 10.93-11.86), followed by allergic reaction (aOR = 7.63, 95% CI = 7.30-7.99), smoke inhalation (aOR = 6.65, 95% CI = 5.98-7.39), and respiration arrest/distress (aOR = 6.43, 95% CI = 6.17-6.70). A traumatic injury was the most commonly recorded known event, and it was also associated with a relatively high level of bystander intervention (aOR = 5.81, 95% CI = 5.58-6.05). The type of injury/illness that prompted the lowest likelihood of bystander assistance was Sexual Assault/Rape (aOR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.32-1.84) followed by behavioral/psychiatric disorder (aOR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.57-1.71).
  
  Conclusion
  
  Bystander intervention varies greatly on situational factors and the type of medical emergency. A higher risk of patient death is likely to prompt bystander action. These novel study results can lead to more effective first aid training programs.
• Subjects:
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Emergency Medical Services
  • Female
  • Helping Behavior
  • Humans
  More +
• Source:
  Prehosp Emerg Care. 20(3):317-323.
• Pubmed ID:
  26807490
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC4933010
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Volume:
  20
• Issue:
  3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/40331/cdc_40331_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 244.10 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bec45818395e6d626b63d497ae6ab2c8b55e57d2232dc055128f6025a934dd27d0bf4359bbba25754b645dada57de90709a6579795fdb700f9b527da784d9b65