Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study participants
|  | Total participants N (%) (N = 20,069) | Patients with prolonged OST (n = 1,241, 6.2%) n (% for N) |
|---|---|---|
Age | Â | Â |
 Newborns | 17(0.1) | 0, 0.0% |
 Infants | 1,627 (8.1) | 53, 3.3% |
 Adolescents | 1,109 (5.5) | 55, 5.0% |
 Adults | 8,642 (43.1) | 575, 6.7% |
 Older people | 8,674 (43.2) | 558, 6.4% |
Sex | Â | Â |
 Male | 10,798 (53.8) | 652, 6.0% |
 Female | 9,271 (46.2) | 589, 6.4% |
Accident type | Â | Â |
 Acute illnesses | 12,544 (62.5) | 717, 5.7% |
 Fire accidents | 57 (0.3) | 15, 26.3% |
 Natural disasters | 14 (0.1) | 7, 50.0% |
 Water-related accidents | 3 (0.0) | 0, 0.0% |
 Motor vehicle accidents | 3,432 (17.1) | 266, 7.6% |
 Work-related accidents | 188 (0.9) | 12, 6.4% |
 Sports-related accidents | 149 (0.7) | 2, 1.3% |
 Other types of accidents | 3,499 (17.4) | 184, 5.3% |
 Assaults | 91 (0.5) | 13, 14.3% |
 Self-injuries | 85 (0.4) | 24, 28.2% |
 Others | 7 (0.0) | 1, 14.2% |
Dates and times of the ambulance calls | Â | Â |
 Weekday daytime (9–16) | 5,567 (27.7) | 372, 6.7% |
 Weekday early night (17–0) | 4,943 (24.6) | 329, 6.7% |
 Weekday late night (1–8) | 3,284 (16.4) | 210, 6.4% |
 Weekend daytime (9–16) | 2,680 (13.4) | 133, 5.0% |
 Weekend early night (17–0) | 2,346 (11.7) | 112, 4.9% |
 Weekend late night (1–8) | 1,249 (6.2) | 85, 6.8% |
Number of hospital inquiries | Â | Â |
 < 4 | 19,858 (98.9) | 1.073, 5.4% |
 ≥ 4 | 211 (1.1) | 168, 79.6% |
COVID-19 pandemic period | Â | Â |
 Pre-pandemic period  (1/2016–3/2020) | 12,721 (63.4) | 604, 4.7% |
 Pandemic period  (4/2020–12/2022) | 7,348 (36.6) | 637, 8.7% |