Large discrepancy between prehospital visitation to mobile emergency care unit and discharge diagnosis

In Copenhagen, Denmark, patients in need of prehospital emergency assistance dial 112 and may then receive evaluation and treatment by physicians (from the Mobile Emergency Care Unit (MECU)). ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a severe condition leaving only a limited time frame to deliver optimal care in the form of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. In theory, all patients with chest pain could have STEMI. The aim of this study was to study which of the patients suspected of having acute cardiac disease based on the 112 calls and met by the MECU were given a cardiac diagnosis on the scene and, furthermore, to compare these on-scene diagnoses with the primary discharge diagnoses from hospital.