The improved ambulance care urgency classification system SUBTITLES

The 112-emergency number is increasingly called for all kinds of situations, from very urgent to much less urgent. It is always up to the ambulance dispatch centre operator to decide whether acute care is needed, in what form and how quickly. The dispatcher assigns an urgency category A1 or A2 to the deployment. If the ambulance care is not urgent, it is a category B.

However, the Dutch ambulance sector has expanded its urgency classification system for medically logical reasons. Several studies have indicated that these changes will improve ambulance care across the board: A0, C1 and C2.

Patients suffering cardiac or respiratory arrest are categorised as A0 cases. In addition, in exceptional situations, the dispatcher may categorise other types of calls as A0 cases. Urgency category B has been subdivided into B1 and B2. The new C1 and C2 urgency categories are intended for less acute cases and in category C cases, no ambulance is deployed. In the C1 category, the dispatcher may refer the 112 caller to GP acute care, acute district care or a care coordination centre; in C2 cases, self-administered care is advised.

In short, the improved urgency classification system ensures that patients get the right care faster, from the right care provider, at the right time and place. The ambulance sector started implementing the improved urgency categories early 2023. Two years have been set aside for this process.

The improved ambulance care urgency classification system.
The right response for medically logical reasons!