Analysis of the use of emergency medical services by Syrians under temporary protection in Ankara, Turkey

Abstract

Aims:This study aims to determine how Syrians who must live in a country other than their homeland use emergency medical systems (EMS) in that unfamiliar health system.Methods:We retrospectively evaluated the data of Syrians who called on EMS between January 2017 and December 2020. Patient data were routinely recorded by ambulance personnel after each patient’s intervention in the Emergency Health Automation System Database, created by the Ministry of Health of Turkey. International Classification of Diseases Version 10 codes were used to identify diseases.Results:Of the total of 1,790,356 emergency patients, 24,266 (1.2%) were Syrian refugees. The most common ambulance requests frm the Syrians were due to birth and birth-related events (19.3%). The most common reason for ambulance assignment among females was birth (33.4%), and car accidents (10.0%) among males. Among patients <18 years of age, the most common reason for ambulance assignment was falls (15.0%). Among patients between 18 and 44 years of age, the most common reason was birth (32.1%). The most common reason for ambulance assignment between 45 and 65 years of age was chest pain (12.6%). Among patients aged 65 years or older, chest pain was the most common reason for ambulance assignment (11.6%).Conclusions:Improving the training of ambulance teams in districts with large Syrian populations, especially for common medical issues such as birth and trauma, will increase the quality of care for these patients.

Keywords

• syria
• ambulance
• emergency medical services