Does Delayed Response Due to Busy Ambulances Impact Risk of Death and Hospital Service Use?: A Cohort Study of 240,000 Medical Emergencies.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

When ground ambulances are busy with any task, delays are likely for concurrent emergencies. Whereas time-critical conditions are affected by delays, general impacts remain unclear. We aimed to assess how delayed ambulance response due to busy ambulances affects risk of death and use of hospital services.

Methods

We studied individuals with out-of-hospital emergencies that precipitated a call to the medical emergency number in Central Norway from 2013 to 2022. Emergency service and hospital data were linked to assess subsequent death and hospitalizations. We addressed potential bias by multivariable adjustment and a natural experiment: For emergencies that occurred in the same area at similar times, we compared outcomes for patients with differences in busy ambula

SUBMITTER: Asheim A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12459146 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature