Medical Characteristics of Foreign Language Patients in Paramedic Care

Abstract

Background: In this study, medical and socio-demographic characteristics of foreign language patients in prehospital emergency medical care are analyzed and compared with non-foreign language patients.

Methods: We performed retrospective chart review of rescue operations in four emergency medical service stations in Northern Germany over seven months as part of the DICTUM Rescue study (DRKS00016719). We performed descriptive analyses including test statistics and used partial correlation to adjust for patients' sex and age.

Results: Patients with limited German proficiency were served in 2.2% of all 7494 covered rescue operations. On average, these patients were two decades younger than their German speaking counterparts. There were significantly more patients with limited German proficiency with gynecological and obstetric problems, especially births, as well as psychiatric disorders, especially suicide attempts.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the existing preventive programs for pregnant women and people at risk of suicide do not sufficiently reach patients with limited German proficiency. Additionally, giving birth and psychiatric breakdowns are exceptional and sensitive situations, both for patients and the paramedic staff, where the ability to communicate safely appears to be of enormous importance to enable safe treatment.

Keywords: birth; emergency medical service; language barrier; migrant; refugee; suicide attempt.

Figure 1

Locations of the recruiting rescue service stations in Germany. The red line shows the course of the A2 motorway, one of the most important east-west transport corridors between Eastern Europe and the Dutch seaports.

Figure 2

Rescue operations during the study period in 2019.

Figure 3

Distribution of patients’ primarily spoken language.