• Paul S Jansson, Jeremy B Richards, Michael A Frakes, Jason E Cohen, and Susan R Wilcox.
• Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
• J Emerg Med. 2020 Oct 1; 59 (4): 553-560.

BackgroundIn the prehospital setting, the use of ambulance lights and sirens (L&S) has been found to result in minor decreases in transport times, but has not been studied in interfacility transportation.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to evaluate the indications for L&S and the impact of L&S on transport times in interfacility critical care transport.MethodsWe performed a retrospective analysis using administrative data from a large, urban critical care transportation organization. The indications for L&S were assessed and the transport times with and without L&S were compared using distance matching for common transport routes. Median times were compared for temporal subgroups.ResultsL&S were used in 7.3% of transports and were most strongly associated with transport directly to the operating room (odds ratio 15.8; 95% confidence interval 6.32-39.50; p < 0.001). The timing of the transport was not associated with L&S use. For all transports, there was a significant decrease in the transport time using L&S, with a median of 8 min saved, corresponding to 19.5% of the overall transportation time without L&S (33 vs. 41 min; p < 0.001). The reduction in transport times was consistent across all temporal subgroups, with a greater time reduction during rush hour transports.ConclusionsThe use of L&S during interfacility critical care transport was associated with a statistically significant time reduction in this urban, single-system retrospective analysis. Although the use of L&S was not associated with rush-hour transports, the greatest time reduction was associated with L&S transport during these hours.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

11 keywords...

hide…