Evaluation of the Effectiveness of 112 Emergency Medical Services

Vollständiger Abstract

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Objective: To evaluate the prehospital performance of İzmir 112 Emergency Medical Services with respect to response times, on-scene interventions, vital sign documentation, and hospital destination patterns. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional field study conducted between 01 and 28 April 2012 from 16:00 to 24:00 at four ambulance stations (Bozyaka, Mavişehir, Karabağlar, Stadyum). All traumatic and non-traumatic dispatches were assessed. Exclusions were age <18 years, false calls, missing data, and transport by another vehicle. Independent samples t test or Mann-Whitney U test was applied as appropriate; Pearson chi-square or Fisher’s exact test was used for categorical data. Two-sided p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: Of 98 calls, 96 cases were analyzed; mean age 53.4±23.9 years, 50% male. Mean response time was 7.49±4.26 min, scene-to-hospital time 17.28±9.74 min, and total prehospital time 25.35±9.88 min. Total time was shorter in trauma cases (p=0.019). Delay reasons were traffic (68.8%) and address not found (23.4%). Vital sign documentation rates were 94.7% for blood pressure and 10.6% for temperature; several parameters were recorded less often in trauma. On-scene intervention was higher in physician-led teams (32.7% vs 14.3%; p=0.018). Transports to tertiary hospitals accounted for 73.8%. Conclusion: İzmir’s mean response time aligns with international thresholds. Documentation gaps, tertiary-oriented destination, and traffic and handover-related bottlenecks remain. Standardizing and auditing vital sign documentation, implementing centralized routing and digital pre-notification, and expanding decision support and tele-consultation in the field are recommended.