Fusion of dispatching centres into one entity: effects on performance.

Area of Science:

• Emergency medical services
• Healthcare management
• Public health policy

Background:

• Consolidation of 112 dispatching centers raised concerns about effective medical call processing.
• An evaluation was conducted to assess the impact of this organizational reform on key performance indicators.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effects of merging dispatching centers on medical call processing efficiency.
• To analyze changes in answering times, call processing durations, risk assessment accuracy, and ambulance utilization.

Main Methods:

• An observational study was conducted comparing two periods: 2 years before and 2 years after the reform.
• Key performance measures included call answering and processing times, risk assessment accuracy, and appropriate ambulance use.

Main Results:

• Call answering rates within 10 seconds decreased significantly (92.2% to 82.8%).
• Dispatch times for fire and advanced life support units increased.
• Call completion times lengthened, and unnecessary ambulance responses and non-transportation calls rose.

Conclusions:

• The reform led to increased ambulance dispatches and prolonged call handling times.
• Appropriate ambulance use was negatively affected, while risk assessment accuracy remained stable.
• Organizational reforms in dispatching centers require evidence-based planning due to their inherent vulnerabilities.