EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES FOR AN URBAN AREA

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY WAS TO DEMONSTRATE AND EVALUATE EXISTING AND ALTERNATIVE METHODS, INCLUDING NEW TECHNIQUES, OF PROVIDING EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES IN AN URBAN AREA. EXISTING PUBLIC AND PRIVATE (CONTRACTED) GROUND AND AIR AMBULANCE SERVICES WERE EVALUATED AS TO TIME ELAPSED BETWEEN THE CALL FOR HELP AND THE VICTIM'S DELIVERY TO A HOSPITAL, AND THE TREATMENT AVAILABLE FROM AMBULANCE CREWS. THERE ALSO WAS ANALYSIS OF COMMUNICATIONS, INCLUDING THE PERFORMANCE OF TWO CITIZEN-BANK RADIO REPORTING GROUPS, WITH THE OBJECT OF IMPROVING THE SPEED OF ACCIDENT DETECTION AND NOTIFICATION. THE EXPERIENCE GAINED IS BEING SHARED NATIONALLY. THE CONTRACTOR FOUND THAT, AFTER TESTING, THE EMERGENCY RESPONSES ARE RELATIVELY FAST AND THAT IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO REDUCE RESPONSE SIGNIFICANTLY. FURTHER, THE SMALL DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSE TIMES HAVE NO MEDICAL SIGNIFICANCE THAT COULD BE DEMONSTRATED. IT WAS FOUND THAT POLICEMEN WERE NOT AS EFFECTIVE AS FIREMEN AND COMMERCIAL AMBULANCE PERSONNEL BECAUSE THEY HAD OTHER DUTIES TO PERFORM IN ADDITION TO THOSE OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE AT THE SCENE. THERE WAS NO IMPROVEMENT IN SERVICE TIME OR THE CONDITION OF THE VICTIM BY USING A MUNICIPAL HELICOPTER AMBULANCE.

• Corporate Authors:

  Detroit Mayor's Commission for Community Renewal

  Detroit, MI  United States 
• Publication Date: 1970-7

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Communication systems; Disasters and emergency operations; Emergency response time; Emergency vehicles; Hazards and emergency operations; Helicopters; Medical services; Reaction time
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00226528
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Literature
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 17 1973 12:00AM