Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Health Service Management, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Health Management and Economics Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences,

2 Department of Health in Emergencies and Disasters, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences

3 Student Research Committee, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

4 Department of Operating Room, School of Paramedical, Qom University of Med Sciences, Qom, Iran

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Prehospital emergency care system is one of the important parts of the health
system. Heavy traffic, increasing urban population, and growing demands for prehospital emergency
services are challenges faced by this section of the health system. One of the approaches to deal
with this issue is using motor ambulances.
AIMS: This study aims to investigate the missions of motor ambulances, ambulances, and the effects
of motor ambulance services on response time and ambulance missions.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This applied research has been designed as a descriptive and
cross‑sectional study. Overall, 267,836 missions carried out by ambulances and motor ambulances
of 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 by
Excel (2013) software.
RESULTS: The average response time for ambulances and motor ambulances were 16 min and
14 min and 13 s, respectively. Most of the ambulance and motor ambulance missions were reportedly
due to weakness (20%) and heart problems (16%). In 57% of ambulance missions and 71.5% of
motor ambulance missions, the patients refused to being transferred to the hospital. Most of the
transport 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 times
decreased the response time by 2 min and by providing the necessary services in the scene and
transferring fewer patients to the hospital, it is possible to provide further services by assigning
ambulances 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 and
also at a lower cost more citizens are provided with prehospital care.

Keywords

1. Ebarhimian A, Saedin H, Jamshidi‑Orak R. Exploration of
Internal Emergency Predictors to Determine the Instrument in
Pre‑Hospital Environments: Iran University of Medical Sciences.
School of Health Management and Information Sciences; 2014.
2. Khankeh H‑R, Saberiniya A, Nakhaei M, Khorasani ‑Zavareh D,
Ardalan A, akbari Y, et al. National Health Assessment Tools in
Emergencies and Disasters, 2nd ed. Tehran, University of Welfare
and Rehabilitation Sciences, Arshia publishers; 2016.p 24.
3. Abolghasem Gorji HA, Shahidi Sadeghi N. Relationship between
pre‑hospital services to patients with acute myocardial infarction
and their hospital length of stay in Hazrat Rasool Hospital: 2009.
J Health Adm 2013;15:7‑17.
4. Lee LL, Yeung KL, Lo WY, Lau YS, Tang SY, Chan JT, et al.
Evaluation of a simplified therapeutic intervention scoring
system (TISS‑28) and the modified early warning score (MEWS)
in predicting physiological deterioration during inter‑facility
transport. Resuscitation 2008;76:47‑51.
5. Keskinoglu P, Sofuoglu T, Ozmen O, Gündüz M, Ozkan M. Older
people’s use of pre‑hospital emergency medical services in Izmir,
Turkey. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2010;50:356‑60.
6. Thang ND, Karlson BW, Bergman B, Santos M, Karlsson T,
Bengtson A, et al. Characteristics of and outcome for patients
with chest pain in relation to transport by the emergency
medical services in a 20‑year perspective. Am J Emerg Med
2012;30:1788‑95.
7. Ong ME, Cho J, Ma MH, Tanaka H, Nishiuchi T, Alsakaf O, et al.
Comparison of EMS systems in the pan – Asian resuscitation
outcomes study countries: Report from a literature review and
survey. Resuscitation 2012;83 Suppl 1:e29.
8. Karlsten R, Elowsson P. Who calls for the ambulance: Implications
for decision support. A descriptive study from a Swedish dispatch
Centre. Eur J Emerg Med 2004;11:125‑9.
9. Kamper M, Mahoney BD, Nelson S, Peterson J. Feasibility of
paramedic treatment and referral of minor illnesses and injuries.
Prehosp Emerg Care 2001;5:371‑8.
10. Mann C, Guly H. Is the emergency (999) service being misused?
Retrospective analysis. BMJ 1998;316:437‑8.
11. Key CB, Pepe PE, Persse DE, Calderon D. Can first responders be
sent to selected 9‑1‑1 emergency medical services calls without
an ambulance? Acad Emerg Med 2003;10:339‑46.
12. Al‑Shaqsi S. Models of international emergency medical
service (EMS) systems. Oman Med J 2010;25:320‑3.
13. EbrahimianAA, Khalesi N, MohamadiG, TordehM, NaghipourM.
Transportation management in pre‑hospital emergency whit
physiological early warning scores. J Health Adm 2012;15:7‑13.
14. Knapp BJ, Kerns BL, Riley I, Powers J. EMS‑initiated refusal of
transport: The current state of affairs. J Emerg Med 2009;36:157‑61.
15. Tehran Emergency Center.[cited 2017 Feb 19] Available from:
http://www.umsha.ac.ir/includes/plink.aspx?linkid=62.
16. PourshaikhianM, Khorasani‑ZavarehD, GorjiHA, AryankhesalA,
Barati A. Workplace violence process against emergency medical
services staffs: A grounded theory. Globl J Health Sci 2016;8:213.
17. Pourshaikhian M, Abolghasem Gorji H, Aryankhesal A,
Khorasani‑Zavareh D, Barati A. A systematic literature review:
Workplace violence against emergency medical services
personnel. Arch Trauma Res 2016;5:e28734.
18. BahadoriM, Nasiripur A, Tofighi S, GohariM. Emergency medical
services in Iran: An overview. Australas Med J 2010;3:335‑9.
19. Ebrahimipour H, Vafaee Nazhad R, Vafaee Najar A, Yousefi M,
Houshmand E, Hosseini S. Pre‑hospital Emergency services with
emphasis on traffic accidents: A case study in Mashhad, Iran.
Health Emerg Disasters Q 2017;2:145‑54.
20. Shah Che Hamzah MS, Ahmad R, Nik Abdul Rahman NH,
Pardi KW, Jaafar N, Wan Adnan WA, et al. Ambulance services
at hospital universiti Sains Malaysia and hospital Kota Bharu:
A retrospective study of calls. Malays J Med Sci 2005;12:34‑42.
21. Peyravi M, Tubaei F, Pourmohammadi K. The efficiency of
motorlance in comparison with ambulance in Shiraz, Southern
Iran. Iran Red Crescent Med J 2009;11:330‑33.
22. van der Pols H, Mencl F, de Vos R. The impact of an emergency
motorcycle response vehicle on prehospital care in an urban area.
Eur J Emerg Med 2011;18:328‑33.
23. Patel FN, Ekkiswala MM. Motorcycle ambulance: A cheaper and
faster alternative. Indian J Appl Basic Med Sci 2010;12:50‑4
24. Nakstad AR, Bjelland B, Sandberg M. Medical emergency
motorcycle – Is it useful in a scandinavian emergency medical
service? Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med 2009;17:1‑4.
25. Fink A, Andoljšek D. 143: Cost‑benefit of medical emergency
motorcycle system. Ann Emerg Med 2008;51:514‑5 26. Soares‑Oliveira M, Egipto P, Costa I, Cunha‑Ribeiro LM.
Emergency motorcycle: Has it a place in a medical emergency
system? Am J Emerg Med 2007;25:620‑2.
27. Lin CS, Chang H, Shyu KG, Liu CY, Lin CC, Hung CR, et al.
A method to reduce response times in prehospital care: The
motorcycle experience. Am J Emerg Med 1998;16:711‑3.
28. Bhalla K, Naghavi M, Shahraz S, Bartels D, Murray CJ. Building
national estimates of the burden of road traffic injuries in
developing countries from all available data sources: Iran. Inj
Prev 2009;15:150‑6.
29. Shakeri K, Fallahi‑Khoshknab M, Khankeh H, Hosseini M,
Hosseinzadeh S, Haghi‑Monie N. Evaluation of clinical skills
of medical emergency personnel in Tehran emergency center
confronting the trauma. Health Promot Manage 2012;1:16‑24.
30. Özata M, Toygar S, Yorulmaz M, Cihangiroğlu N. Comparative
analysis of using 112 emergency ambulance services in Turkey
and the province of Konya. Eur J Gen Med 2011;8:262‑7.
31. Langhelle A, Lossius HM, Silfvast T, Björnsson HM, Lippert FK,
Ersson A, et al. International EMS systems: The Nordic countries.
Resuscitation 2004;61:9‑21.
32. Peyravi M, Ortenwal P, Djalali A, Khorram‑Manesh A. An
overview of Shiraz emergency medical services, dispatch to
treatment. Iran Red Crescent Med J 2013;15:823‑8.
33. Burt CW, McCaig LF. Staffing, capacity, and ambulance diversion
in emergency departments: United States, 2003‑2004. Adv Data
2006;47:317‑26.