Several cities across the U.S. have seen a significant rise in the number of 911 calls for medical help, but the main driver for the increase remains unknown, according to The Boston Globe.
"It's a national trend, and people are trying to dissect it," said Paul D. Biddinger, MD, vice chairman for emergency preparedness at Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital, according to the report.
Boston, Washington, D.C., San Jose, N.M., Denver, New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles have all seen a higher volume of 911 calls for medical help over the last several years. Boston's emergency medical service said it has experienced a 26 percent rise in 911 calls over the last decade, from approximately 95,500 in 2005 to roughly 120,000 in 2014, according to the report.
Boston EMS said it did not have "a verified cause for the rise in demand," according to the report.
As a result of rising call volumes, response times have increased. While the agency has been able to manage the workload so far, James Hooley, department chief of Boston EMS, said, "If call volume keeps going up, there could come a time where we become more concerned, but I don't know that we're there yet."
The Boston Globe interviewed numerous experts — such as national and local medical researchers, physicians, emergency room physicians, ambulance company executives, fire and EMS leaders and public health officials — and no one was aware of any definitive research that had identified a core cause for the rise in call volume. However, they suggested multiple factors are likely involved, probably in combination. Two common explanations the specialists offered were growth in the overall population and longer life spans.
Howard Mell, MD, a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians and medical director of EMS for Iredell County, N.C., said he thinks the rising volume of calls for ambulances is due to dwindling access to basic medical services.
"We're overloading the emergency departments with conditions that could have been prevented," said Dr. Mell, according to the report. "Ambulances and emergency departments are the safety net, and we are always here."
Other experts suggested because more people are insured under the Affordable Care Act, they might be less tentative about calling an ambulance. Additionally, arriving at the hospital by ambulance allows them to skip the long line in the ER.