Don't Believe the Emergency-Room Laments

Patients -- How Sick, and Who Are They?

On arrival at the ER in 2006, 15.9% of patients were classified immediate or emergent (emergency) the top two classifications for patients needing care. This is similar to the previous year's 15.3%, but up from 12.9% in 2004. It's hard to compare accurately with older records because the categories used to measure the patients' condition have changed.

Perhaps for obvious reasons, the over-65s were a significant number of those attending the ER, at a rate of 48.5 per hundred of the age group. They represented 36.1% of all ambulance rides and 24.6% of all cases assessed as requiring emergency care. The trend is up each year of those over 65 attending the ER, from 45.4 per hundred in 1996 -- and this could well be an indication of things to come as the population of older people increases with the Baby Boomer generation.

An incredible 84.5 babies under one year old out of every 100 went to the ER in 2006, but a smaller percentage than the average were considered emergency cases, at 10.7%. This is actually down from 91.3 per hundred in 2005 and 95.8 per hundred in 1996, so the trend does appear to be down.

Where Is the Healthiest Region to Live?

Based on the statistics available for injuries, poisoning and adverse effects from medical treatment, the healthiest region to live is the West, where only 11 visits per hundred of the population took place. The most likely to use the ER are those in the South, at 16.2 visits per hundred, but there was not a great difference between the South and Northeast. All regions have shown a great improvement over the past 10 years, when over 30 visits per hundred was normal.