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Older people
Bathroom jobs eat scene time
Incident location at home and emergency medical services on-scene time for older adults in Japan: a population-based cross-sectional study
BMC Emergency Medicine · 2026-07-24 · Added 22 October 2026
Among 26,058 older Japanese patients transported from home, EMS on-scene time ran up to 9% longer when the patient was found in the toilet, bathroom or kitchen and on higher floors, and shorter in corridors and gardens.
- Study type
- Cross-sectional
- Design
- Population-based cross-sectional study
- Participants
- 26,058 people aged ≥65 transported from home over nine years
- Main finding
- On-scene time was longer for toilets (aMR 1.08), bathrooms (1.09) and kitchens (1.06) versus living rooms, shorter in corridors and gardens (both 0.95), and rose with floor level
- Caveat
- Single Japanese fire department, cross-sectional design with no patient outcome data
- Bottom line
- Context only
Why it matters in Australia (Medium relevance). Cramped bathrooms, toilets and stairs slow extrication for older patients in any system, even though Japanese housing and ambulance operations differ from Australia's.
Learning goal
Understand how the location of an older patient within the home affects my scene time and extrication planning.
More
- Topic: Older people
- Daily scan: 22 October 2026
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