Emergency care in nursing homes in the City of Braunschweig: A cross-sectoral view with indicators from deaths, resuscitation, emergency department visits and EMS deployment

General survey of emergency care in nursing homes in the City of Braunschweig. Retrospective analysis of data from death registry, resuscitation registry and further routine data from the local health authorities and the emergency medical services (EMS). 30 nursing homes with 3,100 beds (mean: 103; range: 35-250) were included; operators of nursing homes were 18 non-profit organizations; 7 private (local); 5 private (nationwide). Among the inhabitants of these 30 nursing homes 880 deaths occurred, 406 (46 %) in hospital; 4,895 EMS deployments for emergency care; 4,493 (92 %) resulting in emergency department visits; 19 CPRs. EMS deployments without a physician order per bed 1.0 (0.4-1.6); emergency department visits per bed 1.4 (0.7-3.1); rate of EMS deployments without physicians order / emergency department visits 70 % (41-96 %); deaths per bed 0,29 (0.12-0.48); rate of deaths in hospital 46 % (0-62 %); CPRs per 1,000 beds 6.1 (0-28); CPR failure rate 22 (0-83) per 1,000 deaths per year. EMS deployment without physician order was significantly more frequent in privately (nationwide) operated nursing homes 1.2 (1.0-1.4). In the entire urban region, the incidence of EMS deployment without a physician order was 0.2 per inhabitant per year and the rate of hospital deaths was 64 %. Compared to the entire population of the City of Braunschweig, EMS deployment was more frequent in nursing homes. The chance of hospital death or failed CPR was slightly lower. There are large variations between the different nursing homes. Indicators from routine data can provide guidance for more specific surveys but do not allow benchmarking.