Emergency Medical Service Identification and Prehospital Care of Acute Coronary Syndrome Among Culturally…

Cohort studyJournal of the American Heart Association· Aug 2026

Emergency Medical Service Identification and Prehospital Care of Acute Coronary Syndrome Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Immigrants: Statewide Linkage Study.

Ararso Baru Olani, Stuart Howell, Kathryn Eastwood … Janet E Bray

Prehospital & RetrievalCohort studyClinical practiceQ1IF 5.3

Paramedics less often identify acute coronary syndrome in non-English-speaking immigrants

Emergency Medical Service Identification and Prehospital Care of Acute Coronary Syndrome Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Immigrants: Statewide Linkage Study.

Ararso Baru Olani … Janet E Bray

Journal of the American Heart Association · Aug 2026

Background

Timely recognition and response to acute coronary syndrome (acute coronary syndrome) by emergency medical services is critical to reducing delays and improving outcomes.

Purpose

This study examines whether emergency medical services identification, care, and times (the interval from emergency medical services call to hospital arrival) differ by culturally and linguistically diverse (culturally and linguistically diverse) background among patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study using ambulance data linked with the Department of Health's hospital data sets (January 2015-June 2019).

Results

paramedics identified fewer acute coronary syndrome cases in non-English-speaking immigrants than in Australian-born patients

aOR 0.84 (95% CI 0.76 to 0.92)

null 1

0.76

0.92

CI excludes the null - significant

More results

Of the 28 557 acute coronary syndrome cases, 30.2% were culturally and linguistically diverse immigrants: 9.5% culturally and linguistically diverse-LOTE and 20.7% culturally and linguistically diverse-English.

Chest pain was the most common chief complaint (69.1%) but was lowest among CALD-LOTE patients (59.4%) (CALD-English=68.6%, Australian born=70.8%).

More results

CALD-LOTE and CALD-English patients had higher rates of direct transfer to percutaneous coronary intervention-capable hospitals compared with Australian-born patients with acute coronary syndrome.

“

Conclusion · 1 of 2

Despite lower acute coronary syndrome identification by paramedics, CALD-LOTE patients were more often transported to percutaneous coronary intervention-capable hospitals.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

Given the implications of missed early identification of acute coronary syndrome for outcomes, further research is needed to understand this variation and to inform tailored strategies for improvement.

Emergency Medical Service Identification and Prehospital Care of Acute Coronary Syndrome Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Immigrants: Statewide Linkage Study.

Emergency Medical Service Identification and Prehospital Care of Acute Coronary Syndrome Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Immigrants: Statewide Linkage Study.

Related papers