Investigation of Fall Accidents among Children and Adolescents and Determination of the Time Indices of Emergency 115 Service Provision in Shiraz, 2017

Falling is the second leading cause of fatalities after road traffic accidents. Emergency care, particularly prehospital emergency care, is amongst the most important bases of therapeutic care. The present study aimed to assess the falling of children and adolescents and determining the time indices of the emergency115 service provider.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on3622 individuals based on the data recorded in the emergency care center dated 2017. The target population includes the injured people who had contacted the emergency115service. Demographic variables and time indices were evaluated. Univariate analysis was done using the chi-square test and multivariate analysis was carried out via a logistic regression model.

The results indicated that out of the 3622 participants, 1228(33.9%) were female and 2394 (66.1%) were male. The mean age of the injured people was 11.35+4.27 years. The highest and lowest prevalence rates of falling belonged to the13-18-years (99.6 per10000 population) and <6 years(72.1per10000 population)age groups, respectively. The results revealed a significant relationship between the consciousness level based on Glasgow Coma Scale(GCS)and male sex,13-18-years age group, and height above two meters (p<0.001).The mean response time was found to be7.5 minutes.

The study results demonstrated that 28.9% of the contacts to the emergency115 service were due to fall accidents. Besides, sex, age, height, and location were the effective risk factors in the prevalence of fall accidents. Therefore, individuals’ living places should be designed appropriately and accurately for providing safe conditions specifically for children. Increasing individuals’ safety can, in turn, reduce the rate of fall accidents in society.