The Evaluation of Time Performance in the Emergency Response Center to Provide Pre-Hospital Emergency Services in Kermanshah
Read the original study on the Global Journal of Health Science

This study evaluated the time performance in the emergency response center to provide pre-hospital emergency services in Kermanshah. This study was a descriptive retrospective cross-sectional study. In this study 500 cases of patients from Shahrivar (September) 2012 to the end of Shahrivar (September) 2013 were selected and studied by the non-probability quota method. The measuring tool included a preset cases record sheet and sampling method was completing the cases record sheet by referring to the patients’ cases. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 18 and the concepts of descriptive and inferential statistics (Kruskal-Wallis test, benchmark Eta (Eta), Games-Howell post hoc test). The results showed that the interval mean between receiving the mission to reaching the scene, between reaching the scene to moving from the scene, and between moving from the scene to a health center was 7.28, 16.73 and 7.28 minutes. The overall mean of time performance from the scene to the health center was 11.34 minutes. Any intervention in order to speed up service delivery, reduce response times, ambulance equipment and facilities required for accuracy, validity and reliability of the data recorded in the emergency dispatch department, Continuing Education of ambulance staffs, the use of manpower with higher specialize levels such as nurses, supply the job satisfaction, and increase the coordination with other departments that are somehow involved in this process can provide the ground for reducing the loss and disability resulting from traffic accidents.
Keywords: performance, prehospital emergency, emergency medical services, response time

1. Introduction
Each year more than 5 million deaths and over 100 million disabilities occur due to injuries happen due to violence, road traffic accidents, falls, burns and drowning (Report, 2003). The goal of emergency response center is to provide medical care to those in need (Arreola et al., 2000). In other words, emergency medical services respond the specific health needs of people outside the hospital. These needs include paying attention to life-threatening injuries, transfer of patients and injuries to the care centers and moving them between centers and mission readiness in the event of health risks but are not limited to these (Barnett et al., 2006). Most people in the world lack access to formal pre-hospital emergency care (Brice et al., 2000). Emergency response center should be simple, consistent and efficient (Charles, 2003). There are two types of response from pre-hospital emergency systems in the different countries; dispatching ambulance with advanced equipment regardless of the type of event immediately after receiving the first call; and receiving the information from the caller, collecting and classifying them and selecting the type and level of service dispatched to the scene (Charles, 2003, Patrick et al., 2005, Charles, 2004). In Iran, the emergency 115 that provides the pre-hospital services was launched in 1976, following the collapse of the roof of Mehr Abad airport terminal (Bidari and et al., 1386). Also, according to the World Health Organization in this country at every 24 hours 102 people and per year about t 37 thousand people lose their lives in accidents (Gasb, 2008). Average growth rate of pre-hospital emergency missions is more than 16% and so approximately every six years, the number of pre-hospital emergency missions will double (Ebarhimian et al., 1391). On the other hand, 50 percent of deaths occur in road accidents in the first hour and 25 percent of the deaths occur during the transfer to the hospital (Jalali, 1380). The results of a case study about emergency patients indicate that the most errors in preventable cases included delays in primary care, lack of adequate care in patient transport and improper communication (Siddiqui et al., 2004). The study of Nasiri pour et al. (2009) evaluated the performance of emergency in Iran as relatively good (Nasiripur et al., 2010), and According to the Accounting Regulations of s comprehensive coverage of pre-hospital emergency services in 2007 by the Council of Ministers to enhance the performance indicators for pre-hospital emergency care, The researchers were to investigate the time performance of Emergency Response Center in providing the pre-hospital emergency services in the city of Kermanshah in 2013.