Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Actual vs perceived EMS response time

A L Harvey1, W C Gerard, G F Rice

  • 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Richland Memorial Hospital, Columbia, South Carolina, USA. allison.harvey@rmh.edu

Prehospital Emergency Care
|January 28, 1999
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Assessing the accuracy and reliability of direct height measurement for use in adult neurological patients with contractures: a comparison with height from ulna length.

Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association·2013
Same author

Improved method for the isolation, characterization and examination of neuromuscular and toxic properties of selected polypeptide fractions from the crude venom of the Taiwan cobra Naja naja atra.

Toxicon : official journal of the International Society on Toxinology·2012
Same author

Evaluation of nerve cell toxicity in vitro by electrophysiological and biochemical methods.

Toxicology in vitro : an international journal published in association with BIBRA·2010
Same author

Interactions of fluorescent cholinergic antagonists with the membrane-bound acetylcholine receptor.

Neurochemistry international·2010
Same author

The continuing contribution of biodiversity to drug discovery.

Current opinion in drug discovery & development·2009
Same author

Mechanisms underlying the metabolic actions of galegine that contribute to weight loss in mice.

British journal of pharmacology·2008
Same journal

Characterizing pediatric trauma patients and EMS agencies that are optimal targets for prehospital pediatric blood transfusion programs.

Prehospital emergency care·2026
Same journal

Disparities in Pediatric Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Outcomes Relating to Race, Urbanicity, and Poverty: A Study of the NEMSIS Database.

Prehospital emergency care·2026
Same journal

Hypopharyngeal Perforation Associated with King Laryngeal Tube Use in Prehospital Cardiac Arrest Management.

Prehospital emergency care·2026
Same journal

Prehospital physiologic instability and in-hospital mortality among non-trauma patients with low-risk emergency department triage.

Prehospital emergency care·2026
Same journal

The 2026 Core Content of Emergency Medical Services Medicine.

Prehospital emergency care·2026
Same journal

Prehospital Assessment and Treatment of Infants and Toddlers in Respiratory Distress: A Retrospective Analysis.

Prehospital emergency care·2026
See all related articles

Patients often overestimate ambulance response times but underestimate time spent on scene and time to definitive care. Despite perceived inaccuracies, actual emergency medical services (EMS) response times frequently align with patient expectations.

Area of Science:

  • Emergency Medicine
  • Health Services Research
  • Quality Improvement

Background:

  • Accurate assessment of emergency medical services (EMS) performance is crucial for quality assurance.
  • Patient perception of response times may differ significantly from objective measurements, impacting satisfaction and trust.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare patient perceptions of ambulance response times with actual dispatch data.
  • To identify discrepancies in perceived versus actual scene times and times to definitive care.
  • To inform EMS quality assurance and management strategies.

Main Methods:

  • A convenience sample of urban emergency department (ED) patients transported by EMS were surveyed.
  • Patients answered questions regarding perceived response time, scene time, time to definitive care, and expectations.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Perceived times were compared to actual EMS dispatch data using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).

    • Main Results:

    • Significant differences (p < 0.0001) were found between perceived and actual times for all measured intervals.
    • Patients generally overestimated ambulance response times (12.4 min perceived vs. 9.1 min actual).
    • Patients underestimated on-scene times (9.1 min perceived vs. 12.4 min actual) and time to definitive care (29.4 min perceived vs. 35.0 min actual).

    Conclusions:

    • Patient estimations of time intervals related to EMS encounters are frequently inaccurate.
    • While response times are typically overestimated, scene and definitive care times are underestimated.
    • Actual EMS response times often meet patient expectations, even if patients do not perceive this alignment.