Effect of ambulance diversion on patient mortality:  how access block can save your life

Fatovich, Daniel M

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb00074.x

Topics

Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is the most serious issue confronting EDs in the Western world.1 As a result, diversion of ambulances to another hospital has become commonplace. This is primarily due to access block — patients in the ED requiring inpatient care are unable to gain access to appropriate hospital beds within a reasonable time frame.2 A reasonable time frame is defined as up to 8 hours spent in the ED by an admitted patient.2

Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA.

Correspondence:

Acknowledgements:

I am grateful for the assistance of Angela Dean and her team at Infohealth, and Medical Illustrations, Royal Perth Hospital.

Competing interests:

I have prayed to St Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, for more hospital beds.

1. Fatovich DM. Emergency medicine. BMJ 2002; 324: 958-962.
2. Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. Standard Terminology, 2001. Available at: http://www.acem.org.au/open/documents/policy.htm (accessed Nov 2005).
3. Fatovich DM, Nagree Y, Sprivulis P. Access block causes emergency department overcrowding and ambulance diversion in Perth, Western Australia. Emerg Med J 2005; 22: 351-354.
4. Derlet RW, Richards JR. Overcrowding in the nation’s emergency departments: complex causes and disturbing effects. Ann Emerg Med 2000; 35: 63-68.

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