GPs’ use of defibrillators and the national radio network in emergency primary healthcare in Norway

Figures & data

Table I.  Out-of-hours services of municipalities in Norway by the five Health Regions (HR).

	Norway	HR east	HR south	HR west	HR mid	HR north
Municipalities
Number	433	88	85	86	87	87
Hosts (of cooperatives)	282	38	39	62	65	78
Population (median)	4451	7278	4672	4303	3934	2244
Minimum–maximum	213–529846	667–529846	857–76066	213–239209	542–156161	444–62558
Percentiles (25%–75%)	2173–9508	3948–18327	2396–12393	2643–9638	2121–6591	1417–4800
Area (km2) (median)	460	458	391	366	458	810
Minimum–maximum	6–9704	37–3178	38–3117	6–2702	20–2972	11–9704
Percentiles (25%–75%)	214–975	184–1019	217–804	145–712	185–941	317–1538
Host municipalities categorized by size (n = 282)^1
Small	140	6 (16%)	14 (36%)	33 (53%)	31 (48%)	56 (72%)
Medium	106	22 (58%)	14 (36%)	22 (36%)	30 (46%)	18 (23%)
Large	36	10 (26%)	11 (28%)	7 (11%)	4 (6%)	4 (5%)
Out-of-hours districts – evening
Number of districts	260	43	33	55	53	76
Population (median)	6689	15093	15103	5933	6723	2997
Minimum–maximum	444–598846	3773–598846	1760–108296	875–239209	609–156161	444–62558
Percentiles (25%–75%)	3305–14954	6847–45403	6380–37420	3709–13850	4819–11614	1443–6759
Area (km2) (median)	819	1144	1014	629	653	1038
Minimum–maximum	11–11035	88–5354	120–5627	66–2830	40–7871	11–11035
Percentiles (25% –75%)	337–1574	454–2046	476–2096	255–998	250–1273	522–2372
Municipalities in cooperatives	99	26	23	20	20	10
Not participating in cooperatives	161	16	11	35	33	66
Out-of-hours districts – weekends/ night
Number of districts	232	37	32	52	51	60
Population (median)	7165	19039	17316	6075	6725	3938
Minimum–maximum	444–598846	3773–529846	875–239209	875–239209	609–156161	444–62558
Percentiles (25%–75%)	3903–19275	8175–57093	6308–40322	3757–14804	4605–12095	1801–7585
Area (km2) (median)	918	1225	1014	647	803	1259
Minimum–maximum	15–9704	88–6753	120–6037	66–4104	76–7871	15–9704
Percentiles (25%%–75%%)	351–1848	374–2848	476–2096	254–1016	342–1366	601–3273
Municipalities in cooperatives	100	24	21	20	20	15
Not participating in cooperatives	132	13	11	32	31	45

Note: ¹Size based on population.

Table II.  Method of transport and equipment carried for GPs on call by health regions (n = 282).

	Norway		HR east		HR south		HR west		HR mid		HR north
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Transport
Private car on emergency (n = 236)
Always	117	50	24	73	21	66	24	45	25	50	23	34
Sometimes	70	30	4	12	3	9	20	38	17	34	26	38
Never	49	20	5	15	8	25	9	17	8	16	19	28
GP emergency vehicle (n = 223)
Always	22	10	3	10	3	10	6	12	6	13	4	6
Sometimes	14	6	2	7	2	7	1	2	4	8	5	8
Never	187	84	25	83	24	83	43	86	38	79	57	86
Together with the ambulance (n = 232)
Always	62	27	4	13	4	13	12	25	13	26	29	41
Sometimes	118	51	15	47	19	61	28	57	27	54	29	41
Never	52	22	13	40	8	26	9	18	10	20	12	18
Use of ambulance boat (n = 219)
Always	9	4	0	0	1	3	1	2	2	4	5	8
Sometimes	40	18	0	0	2	7	12	25	10	21	16	25
Never	170	78	30	100	26	90	35	73	35	75	44	67
Use of taxi (n = 224)
Always	9	4	2	6	1	3	3	6	2	4	1	2
Sometimes	97	43	14	47	16	52	13	27	27	58	27	40
Never	118	53	13	40	8	26	9	18	10	20	12	18
Equipment for GPs
Doctors bring their own defibrillator (n = 255)
Yes	118	46	13	37	8	23	29	50	34	59	34	49
No	137	54	22	63	26	77	29	50	24	41	36	51
Use of national radio network (n = 255)
Always	134	52	6	17	12	34	39	68	42	70	35	52
More often than not	51	20	6	17	5	14	11	19	14	23	15	22
Sometimes	30	12	7	20	8	23	3	5	3	5	9	13
Never	40	16	16	46	10	29	4	7	1	2	9	13

Figure 1.  Doctors’ access to own defibrillator and always use of the national radio network in emergencies, by size of host municipalities.