Emergency ambulance demand by older adults from rural and regional Victoria, Australia

OBJECTIVE To describe the demographic profile and clinical case mix of older adults following calls for an emergency ambulance in rural Victoria, Australia. METHODS Retrospective cohort study using ambulance electronic patient care records from rural-dwelling older adults (≥65 years old) who requested emergency ambulance attendance during 2017. RESULTS A total of 84 785 older adults requested emergency ambulance attendance, representing a rate of 278 per 1000 population aged ≥65 years. More than 10% of calls were to residential aged care homes. Medical complaints and trauma accounted for 69% and 18% of attendances, respectively. The predominant cause of trauma was ground-level falls. Common reasons for call-outs were for pain (17.5%), respiratory problems (9.7%) and cardiovascular problems (8.5%). Increased demand was associated with increasing age and winter months. CONCLUSION Older adults from rural Victoria have high rates of emergency ambulance attendance and transportation to an emergency department, particularly with increasing age.