. Mehdi Jafari; . Khosro Shakeri; . Payam Mahmoudian; . Seyed Ahmad Bathaei
Volume 9, Issue 2 , February 2019, , Pages 1-7
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Prehospital emergency care system is one of the important parts of the healthsystem. Heavy traffic, increasing urban population, and growing demands for prehospital emergencyservices ...
Read More
BACKGROUND: Prehospital emergency care system is one of the important parts of the healthsystem. Heavy traffic, increasing urban population, and growing demands for prehospital emergencyservices are challenges faced by this section of the health system. One of the approaches to dealwith this issue is using motor ambulances.AIMS: This study aims to investigate the missions of motor ambulances, ambulances, and the effectsof motor ambulance services on response time and ambulance missions.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This applied research has been designed as a descriptive andcross‑sectional study. Overall, 267,836 missions carried out by ambulances and motor ambulancesof Tehran emergency medical service (EMS) Center in the years 2014 and 2015 were investigated.The data were gathered personally by visiting Tehran EMS Center. The data were analyzed byExcel (2013) software.RESULTS: The average response time for ambulances and motor ambulances were 16 min and14 min and 13 s, respectively. Most of the ambulance and motor ambulance missions were reportedlydue to weakness (20%) and heart problems (16%). In 57% of ambulance missions and 71.5% ofmotor ambulance missions, the patients refused to being transferred to the hospital. Most of thetransport missions to hospital (24%) were caused by traffic accidents.CONCLUSIONS: According to the results, the response time was higher than the national standards.Locating motor ambulances on the streets and outside emergency stations during peak traffic timesdecreased the response time by 2 min and by providing the necessary services in the scene andtransferring fewer patients to the hospital, it is possible to provide further services by assigningambulances to more urgent missions. Thus, it is recommended to employ more seasoned staff,multiply motor ambulances, and locate motor ambulances precisely to decrease response time andalso at a lower cost more citizens are provided with prehospital care.
