Complicated pregnancy in the experience of Emergency Medical Services Teams – hypertension

Abstract

Aim:To present the characteristics of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team interventions in cases of women with a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (HDP). Material and methods: The study was based on a retrospective analysis of interventions by basic and specialist EMS teams in cases of pregnant women with a hypertensive disorder carried out between 1 January 2018 and 30 June 2021. Results: Most of the women studied were pregnant for the first time (52.3%), in their III trimester (76.6%). The most commonly reported symptom was swelling (12.0%). The majority of interventions were carried out by a basic (only paramedics), two-person (55.0%) EMS team and were assigned urgency code 2 (65.8%). Emergency medical procedures most commonly provided by EMS teams to pregnant patients were pulse oximetry (95.5%) and blood pressure measurement (73.3%). Further management involved providing assistance to the pregnant patient and transferring her to hospital (94.7%). Basic EMS teams (only paramedics) were more likely than specialist EMS teams (with physician) to be dispatched to women with HDP who were in their second pregnancy (23.7%) and had no history of giving birth (53.5%). Most interventions by basic EMS teams (only paramedics) were assigned urgency code 2 (70.0%) and were carried out by a two-person EMS team (81.1%). The associations identified were statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusions: Further studies on out-of-hospital obstetric emergencies are necessary in order to gain a better understanding of the subject and ensure that EMS teams provide the best possible care to pregnant patients.