By Clark Judge
(April 13, 2023) — The Killingworth Ambulance Association answered a record 550 calls in 2022, eclipsing the previous high of 496 set the year before and an increase of 180 over 2020.
That’s a 50 percent hike in two years, which might be alarming were it not for the outbreak of COVID in 2020. But there’s more to this picture than the pandemic, said KAA president Dan O’Sullivan.
“I think the increase in cases in Killingworth is attributable to two things,” he said. “Some of the towns around us are not as successful right now in getting crews for runs. That means we’re doing more mutual-aid calls to neighboring towns. That balances out over time and is one of the strengths of the mutual-aid system.
“The other factor is a great many healthcare professionals have left the field since the start of the pandemic. It seems much harder now to make doctor’s appointments — especially timely ones. Unfortunately, it seems the emergency room is picking up part of the slack. It’s a real tribute to all our volunteers that we continue to have great coverage on calls.”
As in years past, victims of falls led the list of KAA responses. They were responsible for 119 emergency responses last year, or 21.6 percent of the total, and that’s typical. Falls annually lead all KAA emergency responses, with 117 – or 23.6 percent of the total – in 2021.
What isn’t typical is what happened next. Sick patients followed, and that’s no different from the past. It’s the third consecutive year that category was second. What is unusual, however, is the volume of calls. Sick patients were recipients of 104 responses last year – or 18.9 percent of the total. That represents an 83.8 percent jump from 2021 (62) and near-200 percent leap over 2020 (36).
Want more? Here, then, are the Top Five for ambulance calls in 2022, with percentages of the overall total in parentheses:
- FALL VICTIMS …. 119 (21.6)
- SICK PERSONS … 104 (18.9)
- TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS … 51 (9.3)
- BREATHING PROBLEMS… 41 (7.5)
- PSYCHIATRIC/ALTERED MENTAL STATUS … 40 (7.3)
What’s intriguing about these numbers is the number of responses for traffic accidents. The 51 calls are twice the number of 2021 (25) and by far the most in recent years — topping 35 responses in 2019 when they ranked third and represented 9.9 percent of the total.
For a comparison, we offer the Top Five sources of ambulance calls in 2021:
- FALL VICTIMS … 117 (23.6)
- SICK PERSONS … 62 (12.3)
- BREATHING PROBLEMS … 36 (7.3)
- CHEST PAINS … 26 (5.2).
- PSYCHIATRIC/ ALTERED MENTAL STATUS … 25 (5.5)
Two items of note: Where chest pains ranked fourth in 2021 with 26, they dropped so significantly that they didn’t make the Top Five one year later. There were 12 responses for chest pains in 2022. By contrast, unconscious patients — or those who fainted — jumped for the second consecutive year. In 2020, there were only five … then 12 in 2021 … and 16 one year later.
All figures are kept by the KAA, with calls recorded electronically on patient-care reports by EMTs on the scene.
Photo by Clark Judge
