Effects of urban environmental factors on heat-related emergency medical services (EMS) response time

Seong, Kijin; Jiao, Junfeng; Mandalapu, Akhil

doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2023.102956

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Additionally, with the increase in road density, the response time was reduced. This finding aligns with studies conducted in the USA, where researchers have specifically investigated road density as a factor contributing to the EMS response time in transportation, resulting in additional response delay 33 . Furthermore, the response time increased due to the lesser number of hospitals and ambulances.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Examining district-level disparity and determinants of timeliness of emergency medical services in Maharashtra, India

Jana,

Sarkar,

Parmar

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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The quality of emergency medical services remains a major public health issue in developing countries in terms of access, availability, or timely delivery, owing to high socio-economic and ethnic disparities. Particularly, the timeliness of EMS remains a drawback, leading to higher mortality and morbidity. The aim of the study is to assess the district-level differences and factors that influence ambulance travel time, as there was no study done in the Indian scenario. Sequential Explanatory Design was applied here, which involved a descriptive study and spatial analysis of the call volume and distribution to understand the operational challenges of MEMS, followed by in-depth interviews among medical officers and officials to explore the reasons for the challenges. The data, shared by the Department of Health, Government of Maharashtra, consisted of 38,823 records (emergency: 16,197 and hospital-to-hospital transfer: 22,626), including emergency and hospital-to-hospital transfer calls across 36 districts of Maharashtra for November 2022. Spatial analyses were performed to identify the districts with challenges of timeliness. The average ambulance response time (T) across the districts was reported at 134.5 min for emergency cases and 222.80 min for hospital-to-hospital transfer cases. The total ambulance response time, was classified as preparation time (t1:3.53 min for emergency, 3.69 min for hospital-to-hospital transfer), travel time from base to scene (t2: 23.15 min for emergency, 17.18 min for hospital-to-hospital transfer), time required at scene (t3: 12.12 min for emergency, 14.72 min for hospital-to-hospital transfer), travel time from scene to hospital (t4:39.41 min for emergency, 74.34 min for hospital-to-hospital transfer), patient handover time (t5: 10.85 min for emergency, 13.84 min for hospital-to-hospital transfer), and return from base to hospital (t6: 41.89 min for emergency, 94.72 min for hospital-to-hospital transfer). Multivariate linear regression was conducted to investigate the factors that influence ambulance travel time. The finding identifies that the ambulance travel time increased for the districts with lesser population density, lower road density, fewer hospitals, a higher district area served per ambulance, and a higher population served per ambulance. Additionally, socio-cultural reasons affecting health-seeking behaviour, early closing of healthcare centres, undercapacity and resource-deficit healthcare centres, and overloading of specialised tertiary hospitals were identified as determinants of delay in patient assessment and handover time in qualitative findings. A decisive and multi-sectoral approach is required to address the timeliness of EMS in the Indian context.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Examining district-level disparity and determinants of timeliness of emergency medical services in Maharashtra, India

Jana,

Sarkar,

Parmar

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In regard to emergency departments in hospitals or emergency stations, it is recommended that the prioritization and allocation of medical resources and the advancement of medical services should be established robustly. Given that, it is important to take into account the temporal patterns of heat-related illnesses in consideration of year, seasonality, day of the week, and holidays [42,43]. Additionally, geographic patterns of EMS incidents should be considered for the equitable provision of medical services.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hourly Associations between Heat Index and Heat-Related Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Calls in Austin-Travis County, Texas

Seong,

Jiao,

Mandalapu

2023

IJERPH

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This paper aims to investigate the following research questions: (1) what are the hourly patterns of heat index and heat-related emergency medical service (EMS) incidents during summertime?; and (2) how do the lagged effects of heat intensity and hourly excess heat (HEH) vary by heat-related symptoms? Using the hourly weather and heat-related EMS call data in Austin-Travis County, Texas, this paper reveals the relationship between heat index patterns on an hourly basis and heat-related health issues and evaluates the immediate health effects of extreme heat events by utilizing a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM). Delving into the heat index intensity and HEH, our findings suggest that higher heat intensity has immediate, short-term lagged effects on all causes of heat-related EMS incidents, including in cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, and non-severe cases, while its relative risk (RR) varies by time. HEH also shows a short-term cumulative lagged effect within 5 h in all-cause, cardiovascular, and non-severe symptoms, while there are no statistically significant RRs found for respiratory and neurological cases in the short term. Our findings could be a reference for policymakers when devoting resources, developing extreme heat warning standards, and optimizing local EMS services, providing data-driven evidence for the effective deployment of ambulances.

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IoT sensors as a tool for assessing spatiotemporal risk to extreme heat

Seong,

Choi,

Jiao

2024

Journal of Environmental Planning and Management

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Effects of urban environmental factors on heat-related emergency medical services (EMS) response time

Cited by 3 publications

References 19 publications

Examining district-level disparity and determinants of timeliness of emergency medical services in Maharashtra, India

Examining district-level disparity and determinants of timeliness of emergency medical services in Maharashtra, India

Hourly Associations between Heat Index and Heat-Related Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Calls in Austin-Travis County, Texas

IoT sensors as a tool for assessing spatiotemporal risk to extreme heat

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