Exploring EMS Reporting and Arrival Time in Fatal Traffic Crashes with Crash, Roadway, Environmental and Zonal Socio-economic Factors

[Background/Purpose]  

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) play a vital role in the post-crash effort to reduce fatalities by providing first-aid and transportation to medical facilities. This study aims to analyze the time required for EMS reporting and arrival in fatal traffic crashes and to identify crash, roadway, environmental and zonal socio-economic factors.

 [Methods]

Times required for EMS reporting and arrival were calculated by location type (urban/rural) and roadway functional classification using Florida data (2005-2010). Furthermore, log-logistic and Weibull models were used to reveal contributing factors for the reporting and arrival times, respectively.

[Result/Outcomes]

Although about 90% of fatal crashes are reported to EMS within ten minutes in both urban and rural settings, EMS average reporting time in rural areas (4.5 min) is greater than in urban areas (3 min). Moreover, freeways require longer time for EMS arrival (8.3 min) compared to other roadways (6.8 min). The modeling results reveal that both EMS reporting and arrival times are related to the crash (i.e. hit-and-run, etc.), roadway (i.e. lane counts, intersection, etc.), environmental (lighting, etc.), and zonal socio-economic factors (land-use, etc.).

[Conclusions]

The key findings from this study indicate that EMS reporting and arrival times differ significantly according to urban/rural designation and road functional classification, and that they have statistically significant relationships with various factors. It is expected that the findings from this study can be used to develop effective and practical strategic plans to minimize EMS reporting and arrival time and, therefore, decrease fatalities.