Apparent patterns in ambulance response time in Timişoara
Journal Title: Applied Medical Informatics - Year 2019, Vol 41, Issue 0
Abstract
Introduction: The demand for efficient and effective emergency health care is increasinglychallenging and guaranteeing a prompt response in the ambulance services is an importantfactor for favorable outcomes in time-critical situations. This paper aims at exploringexplanatory factors for ambulance response time as a performance metric, in the context of thetwo dispatch centers in Timişoara at present. Material and methods: Four area quarters weredelimited in the city geographical territory, based on natural barriers and large crossover roads.These zones were further considered for analysis of the call data over the year 2018, in a crosssectional study design. The data collected by the Ambulance Service of Timis County on allsolved cases comprised the city streets with: (a) the total number of calls and the four-levelemergency number of calls for each; (b) minimum, maximum, and average response time.Additionally, for each street, the geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude) wereapproximated and the distance to the corresponding dispatch center was calculated based onthe equirectangular approximation. Descriptive statistics and a multi-variable GLM model wereapplied for data analysis, with further Bonferroni adjustments for post-hoc comparisons. Results:Although the number of calls and the patterns of priority were indistinctive within the fourzones, we found significant differences between the response times in the northern andsouthern zones, with differences of up to 3 minutes in the estimated arrival time. Statisticallysignificant area-related differences were observed in the predictive factors for the response time:distance to the dispatch center and emergency code. Conclusion: A supplementary dispatch centerin the northern area would help improving the ambulance time to arrival and compensating thedifferences between North and South of Timişoara.
Authors and Affiliations
Alexandru MORAR, Larisa EFLEIH-HASSAN, Diana LUNGEANU
Keywords
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