(Durham, NC) – On July 2, 2020, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) posted a press release encouraging citizens of the state not to delay seeking emergency care. Using the Biospatial Platform to research collected Emergency Medical Services (EMS) record data, MDHHS found that out-of-hospital deaths in Michigan increased 62% between March 15, 2020 to May 23, 2020 when compared to the same time period in 2019. The release also reports that:
• Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests increased 43.3 percent
• Statewide EMS transports decreased 17 percent
• Transports of heart attack (or STEMI) patients decreased nearly 10 percent
• Transports of stroke patients decreased 12.1 percent
The data show that the COVID-19 pandemic has discouraged patients to seek critical medical care, causing a significant reduction in overall EMS call volumes and resulting in increases in potentially preventable out-of-hospital deaths. Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, (MDHHS) chief medical executive and chief deputy for health, urges Michigan residents to not delay in seeking medical care. Khaldun said, “It is incredibly important that people not delay care, especially if they are having concerning symptoms like chest pain, difficulty breathing or dizziness.”
The Michigan press release was picked up by several news sources, including The Detroit News, WLNS, WDIV, Bridge.com, and MoodyontheMarket.com.
MDHHS has partnered with Biospatial since July 2018 to access and analyze more than 4.3 million Michigan EMS records (to date) for actionable insights. Emily Bergquist, medical control authority coordinator for the MDHHS Division of EMS and Trauma, completed the analysis of the EMS data for the release. Ms. Bergquist said, “using the differential tool on the Demand Analysis widget along with the intuitive options for search parameters made the analysis of call volumes by type of call incredibly quick and easy. I could not have completed this project in time to attempt an intervention without the capabilities Biospatial provides.”
Biospatial partners with hundreds of state and local organizations spanning more than 40 states and covering more than half of the US population. Data owners have access to data visualization tools, syndromic surveillance and alerting, summary dashboards, and clinical and operational reporting at no cost. Biospatial is providing near real-time insights for national-level missions relevant to the Federal Government.
For more information about biospatial’s capabilities, please visit the company’s website at www.biospatial.io, email sales@biospatial.io or follow biospatial on LinkedIn