Setting
injuries
EVENT, EMERGENCY
The study was conducted at the OOH Medical Helpline 1813 (MH1813) in Copenhagen, Denmark, which is open 24/7 for injuries and OOH for medical illness. An assessment at a hospital OOH in Denmark requires referral from either the Emergency Medical Services or an OOH service such as MH1813. Self-referral is largely discouraged. MH1813 provides service for a catchment population of 1.8 million citizens and is predominately staffed by registered nurses and supplemented by physicians who both answer calls and supervise. The call-handlers basically have two options: (1) telephone consultation with advice on self-care, possibly with a recommendation to contact their general practitioner (GP) the next workday (or renewed contact to MH1813 if needed), or (2) hospital referral, either to a low-acuity urgent care clinic, or to an emergency department, reflecting different grades of perceived urgency. Calls are forwarded to the ambulance services in the event of potentially life-threatening situations. MH1813 receives over 1 million calls annually of which 25% concern children under the age of 12 years [