Average ambulance arrival times in U.S.: urban, suburban, and rural areas (Article)

Some interesting numbers on average ambulance arrival times in the U.S. for different types of areas: urban, suburban, and rural.

From the article below:

" ... researchers analyzed emergency medical service data collected in 2015 from 486 U.S. agencies."

"They had information on nearly 1.8 million emergency calls. about 4 percent were in rural areas, about 88 percent in suburban areas and about 8 percent in urban areas."

"On average in the U.S., the length of time between a call for help and the arrival of emergency medical services is about eight minutes - but that rose to 14 minutes in rural areas (where about 10 percent of patients waited nearly 30 minutes."

"The average waiting time was 7 minutes in urban setting, 7.7 minutes in suburban areas, and 14.5 minutes in rural areas."

" ... the difference in response times between rural, urban and suburban settings was not as large as a person might expect."

Interesting. Upon first read, I did think that arrival time given for rural areas did seem a bit short compared to the times for urban and suburban areas (although it did say that " ... about 10 percent of (rural) patients waited nearly 30 minutes)."

But perhaps it does make sense. That is, once an ambulance would get on to an open, rural highway, and especially with much less traffic than in a city setting, and open road ahead, it could likely go at very high speeds toward its destination.

Incidentally, such a scenario might be one worth considering ahead of time, if one is thinking about moving to an isolated, rural home. The fresh air, peace and quiet, and pleasantness of rural life may be inviting, but possible delay in the arrival of EMS during an emergency at this new home is likely something to at least be considered.

Another point of the article, one stressed, is that in all cases, urban, suburban or rural, it is most helpful if bystanders already at the scene of the emergency are already trained in and can administer CPR until the ambulance arrives. Ideally, they will also have been trained in other emergency procedures, especially the stopping of bleeding, if it is occurring.

Heaven forbid that any of us should ever be in a situation where we are having to call 911 from home to summon an ambulance, to arrive as quickly as possible, because of an emergency involving a loved one in our home.

But if it does happen, having that "eight minutes" in the back of our minds as a reference point for when help may actually be on the scene may be helpful.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-emergency-response-times/be-prepared-for-ambulance-wait-times-iduskbn1a42kq

As a kid, I remember my small Midwestern hometown having fundraisers to provide the very first ambulance in my hometown --- manned by volunteers. It was a huge step forward in providing emergency medical services.

Before this, an ambulance had to be sent from the county seat --- 25 miles away.

In my youth, when I shattered my leg in a winter time accident on ice, my dad simply loaded me in the car, and drove me to the hospital, to save time --- in the days before my hometown had an ambulance.

Three spiral breaks ... cast and crutches for weeks ... but, years later, I ran hurdles in track meets, thanks to the talents of an elderly doctor who knew how to "set bones" ... I'm still grateful for what this talented doctor did for me on that winter's night.

A few years later, after the fundraising, the new hometown ambulance was now just "down the street" ---- along with the town firetrucks, manned by volunteers such as my dad and my grandpa, when I was growing up.

Fast forward ...

Teaching school for over 30 years, I have done outdoor playground duty thousands of time.

A few times, we have needed to call for an ambulance at school --- due to playground accidents or a sports injury ...

It's TRUE when they say, when waiting for an ambulance, the "minutes seem like HOURS" ...

Cyclone --- # Iowa State University

Post Edited (Cyclone-ISU) : 6/25/2020 3:59:29 PM (GMT-6)

Having lived for many years in small town Illinois, I've also seen this. In one community where I worked, along the Illinois river, there was a volunteer rescue squad that had achieved full paramedic (not just EMT) status. Those guys and gals were amazing--and having them as co-workers was a definite plus.

I've had to call an ambulance one time: One of my children, when she was about 2, fell and hit the back of her head on the floor and lost consciousness briefly..and stopped breathing for a moment. We lived (again, small town) about 3 blocks from the fire station. I was doing CPR as my wife called 911. The first person through the door was actually the police chief--and I think, by the time the dust settled we had at least 7 or 8 people in the house--police, fire, EMT. I think the call, "we have a small child who has stopped breathing" was an instant "pull out all stops" call.

I think the point in the article about how valuable it is to have civilians helping before the EMT's arrive is well made. And, in rural areas, offering to help is absolutely needed. Another one: One Monday at work, during the time there, one of the rescue squad members told me about a well publicized event over the weekend: there was a multiple vehicle wreck on Saturday night. When the squad arrived and was getting set up, some old farmer came up to him and asked if he could help out. That guy was put in charge of keeping the generator running for the light stands. We don't even think about the details like that: having a passer by run the lights so the rescue squad can concentrate on the victims is huge.

nice thing about ambulances is that if you are a senior over 65...and you need to go to the emergency room get an ambulance...you get priority...of course you need excellent health care insurance...this has been my experience...without going into details...I mean...why add incense to license on HW...both have a distracting smell...shhh

I had a small hours of the morning ambulance ride a few years ago. I'd had a fall a few days earlier and thought I was ok. Couple days later I rolled over in bed and rib snapped clean through - must have been cracked from the fall. Standing and walking was an 11 on the 1-10 pain scale. So I woke up my wife and called the ambulance. Here's the odd aftermath. I was supposed to have a $200 copay on my insurance plan for an ambulance. I waited and waited and never got a bill from the town. One day I ran into one of our town selectmen and asked him why the town hadn't billed me. He said that as long as the town gets the insurance payment it doesn't bother with billing for the co-pay - too much time and hassle chasing people who don't pay.

Post Edited (Bohemond) : 6/26/2020 4:28:59 PM (GMT-6)

mattam, I suppose it depends on your definition of frivolous.

Most of the EMTs and other first responders that I know do it because it's a reflection of who they are. They certainly aren't in it for the money or the recognition. I also know that having a sense of humor (occasionally kind of morbid) is required.

Cyclone -

What a remarkable experience!

In an earlier post I noted that the "pioneer spirit" is on display in such situations, but now I must add that "pioneer courage" is present also!

What courage it took for both you, your mom, and your dad to respond (they were indeed "first responders" as you say!) to the ordeal, which was in fact a family crisis, and striking so suddenly as well.

And add that your dad had to drive that icy road (was it also snowing at the time?) for those 25 miles (which must have have seemed like half-way across the state!), all the while thinking not only about you, but also about your mom as well. "What if she goes into labor while I'm away?" he must have been thinking, as he was surely trying to strike a so very delicate balance between going as fast as he could on that wintry road, but not so fast that the car might go into a spin on all that ice.

But you and he made it! Pioneer courage indeed!

And thanks to your local doctor, who was clearly a very skilled practitioner, and able to mend your injury, so well that you were able to pursue a successful high school track career!

Your experience brings to mind something I would like to suggest as a possibly useful side-topic for this thread now.

Namely, I myself, for example, have never, fortunately, had the experience of being in a situation where I had to call an ambulance to my home due to an emergency, and gone through being "stretchered," wheeled out of the house, suddenly looking up at the stars if it's night, moving toward the ambulance with its brilliantly flashing lights, being loaded into it, then taking off at a high speed, while the techs beside me as I lay there did the things they do. (Attaching monitoring devices to me? Strapping me down? Talking by radio with the hospital?). Then arriving at the hospital, being removed from the ambulance, seeing the lights flashing again, being wheeled into triage, all the while only able to look up, and then going into the ER experience.

But if any of you have ever had such an experience for real, I would like to invite you now to share your personal insights into what it was like. In particular, were there any specific things that happened during your ambulance experience that you didn't expect, or that surprised you about it when they did?

If any of you can enlighten the rest of us as to what it was like, such knowledge might indeed be useful to the rest of us to know now ahead of time, in the somber event that some of us might have to take an ambulance ride to the hospital ourselves at some point in the future.

Please do post about this if you have ever had such an experience, and would like to share it with us.

I've done it twice. Once when I was 18 and went over the handlebars of a Vespa motor scooter at 35 mph swerving to miss a dog that came out of a yard trying to intercept me. I instinctively tucked (no helmet) and rolled 3, 4, more? times down the middle of the road. As soon as I stopped rolling I scrambled to the side of the road as quick as I could, afraid I might get run over. Onlookers called an ambulance -- they still used Cadillacs back then. The ride itself was pretty uneventful - my first ride ever in a Caddy. The ER found nothing broken, though I had major scraped arms, knees, and back of one shoulder, some pretty deep abrasions in one elbow, a bit lip, and sprained wrist - could have been worse.

The second time was the broken rib I mentioned above. When I got out of bed and forced myself to stand up I was barely able to get down the stairs from the third-floor bedroom to our second floor - extreme pain on each step down. So at the second floor I stood upright holding onto a bookcase while my wife called the ambulance. I stood there until the EMTs came with a folding transporter chair. Extreme pain getting from standing to sitting but then they were able to carry me down stairs and lift me onto a stretcher. The ride itself was nothing. Lying on my back didn't hurt. I was joking with the EMTs about the road being overdue for re-paving. But at the hospital when they wheeled me to x-ray and made me stand up it was another 11 on the pain-o-meter. They let me stay in the ER for a couple of hours until the pain pills kicked in and I was able to get into my wife's Prius for the ride home.

I spent the next couple of weeks on the fold-out sofa-bed in our second-floor guest room. Because other than the pain of getting from lying to standing - moderated by prescription narcotics and with aid of a cane -- I could get to the bathroom without needing stairs and my wife brought me food. After about 3 days the pain on getting up ramped down to a bearable 7 or 8 and I ditched the narcotic and was ok on just Ibuprofen. Though it was still a week or more before I no longer felt the broken rib moving and feeling like the pieces were clicking together.

In retrospect, the ambulance ride was the best part of the experience in both instances.
Jim

Post Edited (Bohemond) : 6/29/2020 5:25:53 PM (GMT-6)