Factors Influencing the Arrival Time of Pre-hospital Emergency Services at Emergency Scenes: A Qualitative Study

Background: The time taken for pre-hospital emergency services to arrive at the scene of an accident plays an effective role in saving patients’ lives, and identifying factors affecting this time needs to be investigated. Therefore, the present study was conducted to explain the factors influencing the arrival time of pre-hospital emergency personnel at the emergency scenes.  Materials and Methods: The present qualitative study was conducted at Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences in ۲۰۲۲ using the conventional content analysis method. Seventeen pre-hospital emergency staff members were purposively selected based on inclusion criteria, which included willingness and ability to express experiences, as well as having at least six months of experience working in pre-hospital emergency settings. Data were collected through in-depth, individual, semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Granheim and Lundman’s approach. Results: The results included three categories (barriers to care, systemic barriers, and environmental barriers) and seventeen subcategories (human barriers, barriers related to inter-organizational inconsistency, inappropriate urban planning, unsafe care environment, facility and equipment deficiencies, lack of professional staff, and systemic barriers).  Conclusion: Effective training and the provision of sufficient manpower to meet regional needs play an important role in improving the performance of the emergency response system. Coordinating with city managers to improve area and city addresses can significantly reduce the time it takes for personnel to reach the scene of an incident.

کلیدواژه ها:

Emergency management ، Emergency scenes ، Pre-hospital emergency ، Staff