The Impact of Response Time of Emergency Medical Services on Fatality Rates in an Urban Environment

Abstract

Where factors like population density, traffic, and infrastructure can greatly affect the efficiency of emergency medical services (EMS), response time is a key factor in determining fatality rates. The belief that improved patient outcomes are directly proportional to reaction times is widespread in the field of emergency medical services (EMS). Some emergency medical services use this concept as a goal of having advanced life support (ALS) units react to potentially fatal circumstances in eight minutes or less. A medical priority dispatch system occurrence (either an Echo or a Delta level) was used to identify whether the participants in this one-year review cohort study had encountered a life-threatening incident. The research was conducted in a metropolitan area with an all-ALS EMS system that treats about one million individuals. Response time was defined as the time it took from receiving a 9-1-1 call to the arrival of the ALS unit on scene, and the outcome was the all-cause death rate at the time of medical clinic release. Possible factors included patient acuity, age, direction, and the total of scene and journey interval periods. The reaction time-mortality connection was examined using strategic relapse and defined study.