Emergency medical services in the Limpopo province: Is there a need for change and is trauma different?

Prehospital emergency medical services (EMS) may reduce morbidity and mortality. Trauma systems may improve survival. The objectives of this study were to determine response times of primary and secondary calls in the Limpopo province and to compare primary and secondary calls with international and South African standards. The goal is to make recommendations on improving policies governing the transportation of emergency patients, specifically addressing the transfer of major and polytrauma patients to tertiary facilities.

A retrospective observational cross-sectional study of EMS transports to and from three EMS stations in the Limpopo province between 01 January 2020 and 31 December 2020. Data collection included demographics, medical category of patients, response, patient treatment and mission times.

The study included 1040 patients, with a similar distribution of male to female, most (62%) aged between 16 and 54 years. Medical cases constituted 30.5%, followed by maternity (25.6%), then trauma (20.7%). Primary calls constituted 79.9%, while secondary calls encompassed 20.1%. The mean response time of all patients was 28 min. The mean response time for trauma patients was 40 min, while for non-trauma patients, it was 24 min. In linear regression analysis, the type of call was found to be statistically significant in predicting response time with a p-value of 0.022.

The mean response time overall and for trauma is far longer than international standards and longer than for non-trauma patients. Efforts should aim to reduce response time for trauma patients.Contribution: The research highlights the difference in response between trauma and non-trauma cases in a rural setting.