Underuse of Epinephrine for the Treatment of Anaphylaxis in the Prehospital Setting

Table 1

Characteristics of calls.

	Total calls (n = 611)	Anaphylaxis (n = 437)
Patient’s age (years)
0–20	159	120
21–30	81	57
31–65	286	204
>65	61	40
Unknown	24	16
Symptoms
Unconsciousness/dizziness	36	36
Dyspnoea	328	328
Mucocutaneous	411	279
Gastrointestinal	104	104
Prior allergy history	269	195
Suspected trigger identified by caller	447	318
Food	181	132
Nuts	27	18
Peanuts	14	14
Eggs	12	9
Shellfish	11	8
Fish	6	5
Sesame	5	3
Almonds	5	4
Fruits	19	12
Dairy products	8	6
Unknown	74	53
Stinging insect	132	76
Medication	94	65
Antibiotics	26	18
Unknown	68	47
Radiocontrast agents	13	10
Desensitization	10	10
Cosmetics	8	8
Pollen	4	2
Physical exercise	2	1
Others	3	4
Location of incident
Private location	317	219
Home	311	213
Car	6	6
Public location	170	112
School	41	33
Pharmacy	15	10
Nursery	9	6
Sports facilities	14	11
Restaurant	10	6
Hotel	9	6
Street	9	4
Swimming pool	5	1
Camping	4	2
Jail	2	2
Park	9	1
Store	5	0
Others	38	30
Medical facilities (GP office or radiology practice)	80	54
Workplace	35	28
Medication prior to the call
IM epinephrine	75	65
H1-antihistamine	80	21
Oral steroids	36	5
Inhaled beta-2 agonist	8	3
Availability of epinephrine (including self-use)	134	110
Patient’s own	59	49
Medical office	18	16
School	6	6
Someone else	6	4
Pharmacy	0	2
Unknown	45	33