Abstract
Emergency medical services (EMS) is a critical component high-quality health-care. Road traffic crashes are one of the major causes of death and injury around the world. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the road traffic crash death rate has reached 29 per 100,000 people, or 11.25% of total deaths in 2018. The Saudi Red Crescent Authority (SRCA) is responsible for providing EMS in KSA. However, its average response time to road traffic crashes (14 min) is slower than the international standard (8 min). In this study, we analyzed a total of 57,928 road traffic crash reports recorded in 2019 by the SRCA for all cities in the KSA. The effective planning of SRCA, which is highly dependent on historical data analysis, is critical for decreasing emergency response times and, thereby, rescue times. Thus, we aimed to analyze response and rescue time trends related to road traffic crashes to identify significant factors that would assist decision-makers in enhancing the responsiveness of EMS through rescheduling, relocating stations, managing resources (e.g., ambulances and staff), or strategies based on the factors identified as significant. Statistical tools were used to identify the significant factors that affect the SRCA's performance in responding to road traffic crashes. The analysis results showed that the response and rescue times for road traffic crashes of the SRCA varied within as a result of different factors like geographical region, academic calendar, crash time, weather conditions, the severity of injuries sustained, and the number of injured people. The central regions have the longest average response and rescue times while the northern regions have the shortest ones. Response and rescue times were higher during daytime hours and holidays than during night hours and non-holiday periods. The results also indicated that EMS response and rescue times were significantly associated with mortality rate for road traffic crashes. As a result, by decreasing response and rescue times, the mortality rate for traffic accidents in the KSA could be decreased. Identifying and understanding significant factors that impact EMS response and rescue times can help decision-makers improve the performance of EMS, reduce response and rescue times, save people's lives, and reduce governmental healthcare costs.