Cross-Sectional Retrospective Epidemiological Study of 9-1-1 Calls to the El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez International Border Crossing

Abstract

The El Paso-Juárez metroplex comprises one of the world's busiest international land border crossings. Although prior studies have described prehospital care along the US-Mexico border, the epidemiology of 9-1-1 calls to the El Paso-Juárez border crossings has not been previously reported. Investigators sought to evaluate responses by emergency medical services (EMS) at El Paso-Juárez ports of entry (POE). Methods: This cross-sectional, retrospective study evaluates prehospital care provided by EMS at three international bridges in El Paso. The El Paso Fire Department (EPFD) provided data for all encounters between February 2017 and January 2023. This included date, POE, patient demographics, chief complaint, computer-aided dispatch (CAD), provider impression (diagnosis), and time out of service. Results: Over the study period, 8,407 encounters occurred at one of the three El Paso-Juárez POE, averaging 1,680 per year or 140 calls per month. The busiest month was July, with a median of 132 encounters. 45% of these calls took place at the Paseo Del Norte POE. The study population comprised 59% Hispanics, 4129 (49%) male, and 4266 (51%) female, from 0 to 103 years of age. The most common diagnosis was neurological (1,908, 22.7%), GI/GU (1,263, 15%), and injury or trauma (1117, 13%).  6,420 hours were spent responding to POE calls, the average call resulting in a 46-minute out-of-service time. Conclusion:  This was the first study to investigate the epidemiology of prehospital care provided by EMS at the El Paso-Juárez international border crossing. A total of 8,407 prehospital EMS encounters occurred over the study period, which is expected to grow. We found roughly equal proportions of male and female patients with a wide range of ages. The most common diagnoses were weakness, abdominal pain, and non-traumatic pain. The results of this study could be utilized to enhance the quality of EMS offered at international border crossings.