en تخصصي Special پژوهشي Research <p><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Introduction:</strong> The need for emergency medical services (EMS) is growing because of the rapidly aging population. This study aimed to assess the utilization of EMS among older people in Tabriz, Iran.</span></span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Methods:</strong> This retrospective study used data from the missions carried out by EMS in 2014-15. All of EMS records were analyzed over a continuous 12-month period by choosing selected profiles from the middle month of each quarter.</span></span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Results:</strong> Among all 10940 missions accomplished in four months, 4175 (38.16 %) calls were for patients aged 60 years and older. A significant association was found between service characteristics and gender/age groups. Women and older people aged 80 - 84 years were more likely to use emergency services. Moreover, the older people had a higher proportion of histories for cardiovascular disease, respiratory difficulties, cerebrovascular accident, fall-related injuries, poisoning, and suicide.</span></span></p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Conclusion</strong>: Older people constituted a large proportion of EMS which mostly were transferred to emergency departments. As the older adult population grows, health systems should prepare appropriate services by making changes in training, operations, and equipment.&nbsp;</span></span></p> Aging, Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Department, Iran 23 27 http://ehj.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-55-4&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Akbar Azizi Zeinalhajlou No Health Services Management Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran Rouzbeh Rajaei Ghafouri No Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran Hossein Matlabi hm1349@gmail.com Yes Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Health Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran