A recent study published in the Medical Journal of Australia shows that longer ambulance offload times are associated with greater 30-day risks of death and ambulance re-attendance for people presenting to the emergency department with chest pain.
The large population-based study analyzed a sample of patients who arrived at the ED with non-traumatic chest pain. The goal was to assess whether ambulance offload time "influenced the risks of death or ambulance re-attendance with chest pain within 30 days of the initial ED presentation.”
According to the study, increases in offload times have a direct impact on the outcomes of patients experiencing time-sensitive ailments—specifically chest pain symptoms, which may indicate a variety of cardiac issues. As a result, the study's authors recommend that "Improving the speed of ambulance-to-ED transfers is urgently required.”