Meeting national response time targets for priority 1 incidents in an urban emergency medical services system in South Africa: More ambulances won’t help

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dc.contributor.authorStein, Christopher
dc.contributor.authorWallis, Lee
dc.contributor.authorAdetunji, Olufemi
dc.date.accessioned2021-10-08T07:20:32Z
dc.date.available2021-10-08T07:20:32Z
dc.date.issued2015
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND: Response time is viewed as a key performance indicator in most emergency medical services (EMS) systems. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of increased emergency vehicle numbers on response time performance for priority 1 incidents in an urban EMS system in Cape Town, South Africa, using discrete-event computer simulation. METHOD: A simulation model was created, based on input data from part of the EMS operations. Two different versions of the model were used, one with primary response vehicles and ambulances and one with only ambulances. In both cases the models were run in seven different scenarios. The first scenario used the actual number of emergency vehicles in the real system, and in each subsequent scenario vehicle numbers were increased by adding the baseline number to the cumulative total. RESULTS: The model using only ambulances had shorter response times and a greater number of responses meeting national response time targets than models using primary response vehicles and ambulances. In both cases an improvement in response times and the number of responses meeting national response time targets was observed with the first incremental addition of vehicles. After this the improvements rapidly diminished and eventually became negligible with each successive increase in vehicle numbers. The national response time target for urban areas was never met, even with a seven-fold increase in vehicle numbers. CONCLUSION: The addition of emergency vehicles to an urban EMS system improves response times in priority 1 incidents, but alone is not capable of the magnitude of response time improvement needed to meet the national response time targets.
dc.identifier.apacitationStein, C., Wallis, L., & Adetunji, O. (2015). Meeting national response time targets for priority 1 incidents in an urban emergency medical services system in South Africa: More ambulances won’t help. <i>South African Medical Journal</i>, 105(10), 840 - 177. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/34945en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationStein, Christopher, Lee Wallis, and Olufemi Adetunji "Meeting national response time targets for priority 1 incidents in an urban emergency medical services system in South Africa: More ambulances won’t help." <i>South African Medical Journal</i> 105, 10. (2015): 840 - 177. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/34945en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationStein, C., Wallis, L. & Adetunji, O. 2015. Meeting national response time targets for priority 1 incidents in an urban emergency medical services system in South Africa: More ambulances won’t help. <i>South African Medical Journal.</i> 105(10):840 - 177. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/34945en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0038-2469
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Stein, Christopher AU - Wallis, Lee AU - Adetunji, Olufemi AB - BACKGROUND: Response time is viewed as a key performance indicator in most emergency medical services (EMS) systems. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of increased emergency vehicle numbers on response time performance for priority 1 incidents in an urban EMS system in Cape Town, South Africa, using discrete-event computer simulation. METHOD: A simulation model was created, based on input data from part of the EMS operations. Two different versions of the model were used, one with primary response vehicles and ambulances and one with only ambulances. In both cases the models were run in seven different scenarios. The first scenario used the actual number of emergency vehicles in the real system, and in each subsequent scenario vehicle numbers were increased by adding the baseline number to the cumulative total. RESULTS: The model using only ambulances had shorter response times and a greater number of responses meeting national response time targets than models using primary response vehicles and ambulances. In both cases an improvement in response times and the number of responses meeting national response time targets was observed with the first incremental addition of vehicles. After this the improvements rapidly diminished and eventually became negligible with each successive increase in vehicle numbers. The national response time target for urban areas was never met, even with a seven-fold increase in vehicle numbers. CONCLUSION: The addition of emergency vehicles to an urban EMS system improves response times in priority 1 incidents, but alone is not capable of the magnitude of response time improvement needed to meet the national response time targets. DA - 2015 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town IS - 10 J1 - South African Medical Journal LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2015 SM - 0038-2469 T1 - Meeting national response time targets for priority 1 incidents in an urban emergency medical services system in South Africa: More ambulances won’t help TI - Meeting national response time targets for priority 1 incidents in an urban emergency medical services system in South Africa: More ambulances won’t help UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/34945 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/34945
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationStein C, Wallis L, Adetunji O. Meeting national response time targets for priority 1 incidents in an urban emergency medical services system in South Africa: More ambulances won’t help. South African Medical Journal. 2015;105(10):840 - 177. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/34945.en_ZA
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.departmentDivision of Emergency Medicine
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciences
dc.sourceSouth African Medical Journal
dc.source.journalissue10
dc.source.journalvolume105
dc.source.pagination840 - 177
dc.source.urihttps://dx.doi.org/10.7196/SAMJnew.8087
dc.subject.otherAmbulances
dc.subject.otherComputer Simulation
dc.subject.otherEmergency Medical Services
dc.subject.otherHumans
dc.subject.otherSouth Africa
dc.subject.otherTime Factors
dc.subject.otherUrban Health Services
dc.titleMeeting national response time targets for priority 1 incidents in an urban emergency medical services system in South Africa: More ambulances won’t help
dc.typeJournal Article
uct.type.publicationResearch
uct.type.resourceJournal Article
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