Reducing Ambulance Response Times Improves Pre-Hospital Survival in Circulatory Arrest

Background : Numerous studies have demonstrated the negative impact of ambulance response time on the outcomes of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. However, timely emergency intervention may also be crucial in cases involving other severe medical conditions. The objective of our study was to determine whether improving emergency medical services (EMS) response times increases the chances of survival for patients experiencing circulatory arrest from various causes. Methods : We conducted a retrospective study of EMS records from ambulance trips, collected and maintained by the EMS Command and Control Centre of the Slovak Republic, covering the period from April 2022 to March 2024. Patients with circulatory arrest were considered to have survived if they were alive at the conclusion of the EMS intervention—either upon transfer to hospital staff or after being left at home. Correlation analysis and logistic regression were used to assess the association between response time and patient survival. The regression model was then applied to predict the potential impact of reduced ambulance response times. Results : The dataset included records of 13,712 individuals who experienced unexpected circulatory arrest. Regression analysis revealed that ambulance response time had a significant negative effect on survival. An odds ratio of 0.956 (95% CI [0.947–0.965]) indicates that the probability of survival decreases by approximately 4.4% with each additional minute of response time. A computer simulation suggested that optimizing vehicle fleet composition, dispatch protocols, and ambulance station locations could reduce the average response time for high-priority patients by almost 3 minutes, potentially leading to an estimated increase of 125 survivors annually among those experiencing circulatory arrest. Conclusions : Reducing ambulance response times can significantly improve pre-hospital survival rates among patients who suffer unexpected circulatory arrest.