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Predictors of Suffoletto et al for Detecting a Serious Infection During Prehospital Emergency Care

Description

Suffoletto et al identified factors predictive of serious infection that can be identified during prehospital care. The emergency responders can use these to alert a hospital about the arrival of a patient who may require more aggressive management. The authors are from the University of Pittsburgh.


 

Patient selection: prehospital emergency care

 

Predictors of a serious infection:

(1) systolic blood pressure < 100 mm Hg

(2) fever or suspicion of fever

(3) prehospital provider suspects infection

 

The presence of one or more of these findings was used to alert clinicians to the possibility of a serious infection.

 

Performance:

• The area under the ROC curve was 0.71.

• The sensitivity was 0.59 and the specificity was 0.81.

• The low sensitivity underscores the need for clinical assessment after arrival to the Emergency Department.

 


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