title: Does the Implementation of an Advanced Life Support Quick Response Vehicle (QRV) in an Integrated Fire/EMS System Improve Patient Contact Response Time?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The current Fire/Emergency Medical Services (EMS) model throughout the United States involves emergency vehicles which respond from a primary location (ie, firehouse or municipal facility) to emergency calls. Quick response vehicles (QRVs) have been used in various Fire/EMS systems; however, their effectiveness has never been studied.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The goal of this study was to determine if patient response times would decrease by placing an Advanced Life Support (ALS) QRV in an integrated Fire/EMS system.
  
  
  METHODS
  Response times from an integrated Fire/EMS system with an annual EMS call volume of 3,261 were evaluated over the three years prior to the implementation of this study. For a 2-month period, an ALS QRV staffed by a firefighter/paramedic responded to emergency calls during peak call volume hours of 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. The staging of this vehicle was based on historical call volume percentages using respective geocodes as well as system requirements during multiple emergency dispatches.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prior to the study, the citywide average response time for the twelve months preceding was 5.44 minutes. During the study, the citywide average response time decreased to 4.09 minutes, resulting in a 27.62% reduction in patient response time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The implementation of an ALS QRV in an integrated Fire/EMS system reduces patient response time. Having a QRV that is not staged continuously in a traditional fire station or municipal location reduces the time needed to reach patients. Also, using predictive models of historic call volume can aid Fire and EMS administrators in reduction of call response times.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Emergency Medicine,Virginia Commonwealth University,Richmond,VirginiaUSA.
authors.forename: Dustin W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Emergency Medicine,Virginia Commonwealth University,Richmond,VirginiaUSA.
authors.forename: Harinder S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Dhindsa
authors.affiliation: 2Department of Biostatistics,School of Medicine,Virginia Commonwealth University,Richmond,VirginiaUSA.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: 3Colonial Heights Fire and EMS,Colonial Heights,VirginiaUSA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Salot
mesh_terms: D000552:Ambulances; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D060731:Emergency Responders; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D061665:Time-to-Treatment
keywords: ALS Advanced Life Support; EMS Emergency Medical Services; QRV quick response vehicle; patient contact time; quick response vehicle; response time