Patients Treated by the Danish Emergency Medical Services Following Non-drowning Water Rescues From 2016 to 2023

NCT06327893 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: AQUATIC_RESCUE
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 3,000
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Since 2015, all Danish prehospital EMS have used the nationwide Prehospital Electronic Medical Record (PEMR). In 2023, the investigators developed the Danish Drowning Formula (DDF), a text-search algorithm designed to search the unstructured text fields in the electronic medical records with comprehensive search criteria to identify all potential water-related incidents. This protocol describes the first study to analyse the prehospital data from a nationwide Danish cohort of patients treated by the EMS from 2016 to 2023 following non-drowning aquatic rescues.

Conditions

Drowning; Drowning, Near; Submersion; Submersion - Accidental; Submersion or Drowning Due to Being Washed Overboard; Submersion or Drowning Due to Being Thrown Overboard; Submersion or Drowning Due to Ship Sinking, Water Skier Injured; Submersion or Drowning Due to Boat Submerging, Swimmer Injured; Submersion or Drowning Due to Boat Overturning, Swimmer Injured; Submersion or Drowning Due to Boat Submerging, Water Skier Injured; Submersion or Drowning Due to Fall From Gangplank, Swimmer Injured; Submersion or Drowning Due to Ship Sinking, Docker or Stevedore Injured; Submersion or Drowning Due to Fall Overboard, Docker or Stevedore Injured

Keywords

Water rescue; Aquatic rescue; Danish Prehospital Drowning Data; Danish Drowning Formula; Emergency Medical Service (EMS); Cohort; Registry; Utstein; Epidemiology

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• The annual incidence.

  The incidence will be reported as the annual number of cases.

  From 2016 to 2023.

• The annual incidence rate.

  The incidence rate will be reported as the annual number of cases per 100,000 person-years.

  From 2016 to 2023.

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• The spatial distribution of aquatic rescues on a map of Denmark.

  From 2016-2023.

Study Arms (1)

Aquatic rescue

Patients treated by the Danish EMS following an aquatic rescue performed by lay or professional rescuers are identified from the Danish PEMR using the Danish Drowning Formula (DDF) and extensive manual validation.

Other: Submersion or immersion in liquid

Interventions

Submersion or immersion in liquid OTHER

The patient must have been submersed or immersed in liquid.

Aquatic rescue

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients treated by the Danish EMS following an aquatic rescue are identified from the Danish Prehospital Electronic Medical Record using the Danish Drowning Formula and extensive manual validation. We used the WHO definition of drowning supported by the "Clarification and Categorisation of Non-fatal Drowning" statement to differentiate between drowning and non-drowning aquatic rescues.

You may qualify if:

• All the patients registered in the Danish Prehospital Electronic Medical Record from 2016-2023 will be screened by the Danish Drowning Formula and the medical records containing one or more trigger words will be extracted for manual validation.
• All records where the patient was immersed or submersed in liquid but did not experience mild, moderate, or severe respiratory impairment following the drowning process will be included.

You may not qualify if:

• All records where the patient was immersed or submersed in liquid and did experience mild, moderate, or severe respiratory impairment following the drowning process).
• All records where the patient was not immersed or submersed in liquid.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Prehospital Center, Region Zealand: lead

Study Sites (1)

Prehospital Center

Næstved, Region Sjælland, 4700, Denmark

RECRUITING

Related Publications (1)

• Breindahl N, Wolthers SA, Jensen TW, Holgersen MG, Blomberg SNF, Steinmetz J, Christensen HC; Danish Cardiac Arrest Group. Danish Drowning Formula for identification of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest from drowning. Am J Emerg Med. 2023 Nov;73:55-62. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2023.08.024. Epub 2023 Aug 15.

  PMID: 37619443 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Drowning; Near Drowning

Interventions

Immersion; Fluid Therapy

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Death; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Wounds and Injuries

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Investigative Techniques; Drug Therapy; Therapeutics

Study Officials

• Helle Collatz Christensen, Ass. Prof.

  Prehospital Center, Region Zealand

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Central Study Contacts

Niklas Breindahl, MD, PhD

CONTACT

28566410; niklas.breindahl@gmail.com

Helle Collatz Christensen, MD, PhD

CONTACT

Hcli@regsj.dk

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: RETROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principel Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 18, 2024
• First Posted: March 25, 2024
• Study Start: January 1, 2016
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2025
• Study Completion: May 1, 2026
• Last Updated: August 27, 2025

Record last verified: 2024-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

DK (1)