Prediction of Critical Illness During Out-of-Hospital Emergency Care.

The article discusses a study which investigated the out-of-hospital predictors of critical illness which may improve triage decisions and facilitate regionalization of critical care. The population-based cohort study involved an emergency medical services (EMS) system in greater King County, Washington. Nontrauma, non-cardiac arrest adult patients who were transported to a hospital from 2002 to 2006 were assessed by the authors. The association between the development of critical illness during hospitalization and the score on a prediction rule is cited.