David Pm Monnott1,2, Jocelyn Boisvert3, Dominique Buteau3,4, Neal W Pollock1,3. 1. Department of Kinesiology, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada. 2. Corresponding author: Dr David Monnot, Service de médecine hyperbare, Centre de médecine de plongée du Québec, Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis, 143 rue Wolfe, Lévis, QC, G6V 3Z1, Canada, david.monnot@fmed.ulaval.ca. 3. CISSS Chaudière-Appalaches (CHAU-Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis), Hyperbaric Medicine Unit, Emergency Department, Lévis, QC, Canada. 4. Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine Department, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The Centre de Médecine de Plongée du Québec (CMPQ) established a bilingual 24-hour dive emergency call line and diving medicine information service in 2004. The toll-free number (888-835-7121) works throughout Canada. Calls and emails (cmpq.cisssca@ssss.gouv.qc.ca) are answered by a CMPQ coordinator or on-call hyperbaric physicians and other consultants as needed. We reviewed 15 years of activity. METHODS: Details of phone calls and email enquiries to the centre were reviewed individually and compiled into a database. Data were analysed to characterise contact volume and issues addressed. Contacts were categorised into five groups: information only (INF); medical opinion required (MOP); medical issue after the critical period of urgency had passed (PUR); current urgent but not immediate life-threatening issue (NLT); and immediate life- or health-threatening issue (ILT). Data presented as mean (standard deviation) or percentage. RESULTS: A total of 3,232 contacts were made from May 2004 through December 2018: 19 (SD 8) per month [215 (70) per year]. Primary issues of concern were: emergency planning (20%); technical (not medical/physiology) questions (16%); otorhinolaryngological (12%); and decompression sickness-related (7%). Categorisation was 52% INF, 28% MOP, 13% PUR, 7% NLT, and 0.1% ILT, with 0.2% lacking sufficient detail to categorise. The nature of the diving activity of interest was determined in 67% of cases: 48% (n = 1,039) professional; 46% (n = 1,008) recreational; and 1% (n = 11) breath-hold. CONCLUSIONS: The call centre serves as a resource to the community, providing information on health and safety for diving in addition to being available to assist with emergent needs. Copyright: This article is the copyright of the authors who grant Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine a non-exclusive licence to publish the article in electronic and other forms.
INTRODUCTION: The Centre de Médecine de Plongée du Québec (CMPQ) established a bilingual 24-hour dive emergency call line and diving medicine information service in 2004. The toll-free number (888-835-7121) works throughout Canada. Calls and emails (cmpq.cisssca@ssss.gouv.qc.ca) are answered by a CMPQ coordinator or on-call hyperbaric physicians and other consultants as needed. We reviewed 15 years of activity. METHODS: Details of phone calls and email enquiries to the centre were reviewed individually and compiled into a database. Data were analysed to characterise contact volume and issues addressed. Contacts were categorised into five groups: information only (INF); medical opinion required (MOP); medical issue after the critical period of urgency had passed (PUR); current urgent but not immediate life-threatening issue (NLT); and immediate life- or health-threatening issue (ILT). Data presented as mean (standard deviation) or percentage. RESULTS: A total of 3,232 contacts were made from May 2004 through December 2018: 19 (SD 8) per month [215 (70) per year]. Primary issues of concern were: emergency planning (20%); technical (not medical/physiology) questions (16%); otorhinolaryngological (12%); and decompression sickness-related (7%). Categorisation was 52% INF, 28% MOP, 13% PUR, 7% NLT, and 0.1% ILT, with 0.2% lacking sufficient detail to categorise. The nature of the diving activity of interest was determined in 67% of cases: 48% (n = 1,039) professional; 46% (n = 1,008) recreational; and 1% (n = 11) breath-hold. CONCLUSIONS: The call centre serves as a resource to the community, providing information on health and safety for diving in addition to being available to assist with emergent needs. Copyright: This article is the copyright of the authors who grant Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine a non-exclusive licence to publish the article in electronic and other forms.
Authors: David Monnot; Thierry Michot; Emmanuel Dugrenot; François Guerrero; Pierre Lafère Journal: Diving Hyperb Med Date: 2019-06-30 Impact factor: 0.887