Patient deaths in ambulances
Freedom of Information Request
- Reference
- 1786/22
- Request Date
- 23 Dec 2022
- Response Date
- 04 Jan 2023
- Information Requested
- Confirmation of whether or not the Scottish Ambulance Service record when a patient has died in an ambulance. What I am specifically asking here is not about causation of death, just simply the fact that a patient did die/pass away inside an ambulance.
If not then please give the rationale for not doing so.
- If the SAS does record patient deaths in ambulances, then please provide the number of patients who have passed away in ambulances in the last five financial years. Please break the figure down per year.
- Response
The Scottish Ambulance Service records data in two ways first being, against a number of clinical codes generated through our 999-triage systems used by our Ambulance Control Centre. This is dependent on the information provided during the 999 call and is unique to the time of entry. Secondly we are able to provide data sets based on the final outcome clinical code, input by the attending ambulance clinicians based on the presenting clinical symptom(s) needing treatment.
We do not hold a clinical code against the criteria you have asked for. What we would hold for example is the number of cardiac arrests attended.
The Scottish Ambulance service does not hold causation data for death and for this we would ask you to re-direct your request to the National Records of Scotland and Public Health Scotland, Data and Intelligence (previously known as ISD Scotland). This is where you will find the information regarding the number of deaths, under a stated category.
We have no definitive way to measure how many deaths were recorded in an ambulance, so we are unable give a definitive number of patients who have died in the ambulance. There for we do not hold the information you require.
- Response Documents
