Table 2 Emergency department presentation characteristics by province and group for 2015/2016
Characteristic | Alberta | Ontario | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Control (n = 560,755) | HSU (n = 686,817) | Control (n = 2,113,961) | HSU (n = 2,222,173) | |
Admit via ambulance | ||||
No ambulance arrival (e.g., walk in) (%) | 494,292 (88.1) | 588,648 (85.7) | 1,803,287 (85.3) | 1,774,770 (79.9) |
Ground ambulance (%) | 65,952 (11.8) | 97,268 (14.2) | 309,852 (14.7) | 445,702 (20.1) |
Air ambulance (%) | 346 (0.1) | 437 (0.1) | 235 (0.0) | 404 (0.0) |
Any combination of ground, air, or water ambulance (%) | 165 (0.0) | 464 (0.1) | 587 (0.0) | 1297 (0.1) |
Day | ||||
Weekday (%) | 401,925 (71.7) | 505,314 (73.6) | 1,523,089 (72.0) | 1,628,069 (73.3) |
Weekend (%) | 158,830 (28.3) | 181,503 (26.4) | 590,872 (28.0) | 594,104 (26.7) |
Shift | ||||
00:00–07:59 (%) | 69,287 (12.4) | 88,230 (12.8) | 274,707 (13.0) | 307,453 (13.8) |
08:00–15:59 (%) | 285,340 (50.9) | 351,680 (51.2) | 1,074,124 (50.8) | 1,117,009 (50.3) |
16:00–23:59 (%) | 206,128 (36.8) | 246,907 (35.9) | 765,130 (36.2) | 797,711 (35.9) |
Triage level | ||||
1 - Resuscitation (%) | 3184 (0.6) | 3093 (0.5) | 19,235 (0.9) | 20,660 (0.9) |
2 - Emergent (%) | 81,079 (14.5) | 77,517 (11.3) | 417,725 (19.8) | 457,096 (20.6) |
3 - Urgent (%) | 214,526 (38.3) | 220,567 (32.1) | 967,426 (45.8) | 1,011,687 (45.5) |
4 - Less-urgent (Semi-urgent) (%) | 205,098 (36.6) | 238,190 (34.7) | 639,120 (30.2) | 593,952 (26.7) |
5 - Non-urgent (%) | 45,912 (8.2) | 116,028 (16.9) | 60,550 (2.9) | 113,907 (5.1) |
Missing / Unavailable (%) | 10,956 (2.0) | 31,422 (4.6) | 9905 (0.5) | 24,871 (1.1) |
Time to physician initial assessment (PIA) (minutes) | ||||
Median (Q1, Q3)* | 67.0 (35.0, 121.0) | 60.0 (30.0, 112.0) | 67.0 (35.0, 119.0) | 63.0 (32.0, 115.0) |
Missing / N.A. (%) | 113,512 (20.2) | 264,046 (38.4) | 156,479 (7.4) | 243,843 (11.0) |
Estimated median time (95% confidence interval) † | 70 (70, 70) | 63 (63, 63) | 69 (69, 69) | 65 (65, 65) |
Time to disposition decision (hours) | ||||
Median (Q1, Q3) | 2.6 (1.4, 4.6) | 2.2 (1.1, 4.4) | 2.8 (1.6, 4.5) | 2.9 (1.6, 5.0) |
Missing / N.A. (%) | 11,098 (2.1) | 27,569 (4.4) | 10,785 (0.5) | 25,475 (1.2) |
Estimated median time (95% confidence interval) † | 2.6 (2.6, 2.7) | 2.2 (2.2, 2.3) | 2.8 (2.8, 2.8) | 3.0 (3.0, 3.0) |
Disposition | ||||
Discharged (%) | 478,332 (85.3) | 575,360 (83.8) | 1,826,261 (86.4) | 1,789,388 (80.5) |
Admitted (%) | 51,136 (9.1) | 65,087 (9.5) | 197,128 (9.3) | 291,669 (13.1) |
Transferred (%) | 10,445 (1.9) | 16,438 (2.4) | 24,262 (1.1) | 44,444 (2.0) |
Left without being seen (LWBS) (%) | 14,604 (2.6) | 19,542 (2.8) | 49,749 (2.4) | 71,189 (3.2) |
Left against medical advice (LAMA) (%) | 5685 (1.0) | 10,179 (1.5) | 13,955 (0.7) | 24,364 (1.1) |
Death (%) | 553 (0.1) | 211 (0.0) | 2606 (0.1) | 1119 (0.1) |
Length of stay (hours)‡ | ||||
Median (Q1, Q3) | 2.7 (1.4, 4.8) | 2.3 (1.1, 4.7) | 2.8 (1.6, 4.8) | 3.1 (1.6, 5.5) |
Missing (%) | 10,983 (2.1) | 27,406 (4.4) | 3741 (0.2) | 6829 (0.3) |
Estimated median time (95% confidence interval) † | 2.7 (2.7, 2.7) | 2.3 (2.3, 2.3) | 2.8 (2.8, 2.8) | 3.1 (3.1, 3.1) |