Ambulance Response Time at Three Selected Tertiary Hospitals in Malaysia: Performance of Hospital-Based Ambulance Equipped with Computerized Call Centre System

Nik Ahmad Shaiffudin, Nik Him and Azizul Fadzli, Wan Jusoh@Ab Rahim and Tengku Muhammad Ariff, Raja Hussin (2018) Ambulance Response Time at Three Selected Tertiary Hospitals in Malaysia: Performance of Hospital-Based Ambulance Equipped with Computerized Call Centre System. Malaysian Journal of Applied Sciences, 3 (1). pp. 42-50. ISSN 0127-9246

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Abstract

The importance of rapid ambulance response to emergency medical crises is undeniable. An early access to advanced care is crucial to saving a life. Modern computerised call centre and the hospitalbased ambulance services are believed to enhance the quality of service delivery. However, whether it will further reduce the ambulance response time is still debatable. A cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2012 until July 2012 at three selected tertiary hospitals in Malaysia. The ambulance response time was expressed in a median and interquartile range (IQR) and Mann- Whitney U test was used to determine the associations between types of ambulance and computerised call centre system versus voice only. Wilcoxon Rank Sign Test was used to assess the significance of means difference. A hospital-based ambulance had the median time of 0.19 minutes while community-based ambulance had the median time of 0.20 minutes (The Z score - 0.916, p-value - 0.360). The hospital with computer call centre had the median time of 0.19 minutes while hospital without computer call centre had the median of 0.20 minutes (The Z score - 0.816, P value - 0.414).The response time of hospital-based ambulance equipped with computerised call centre system was comparable in three selected tertiary hospitals in Malaysia.

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