On average, how long does it take for an ambulance to arrive?

Question

I've been looking for a statistic without success and was hoping someone could help me. What I need to find out is this: In the United States, on average how long does it take for an ambulance to arrive once an ermergency call has been placed. It must vary widely but I'm wondering if there are any statistics for the average time. I would need to be able to cite either a credible source or study to back up the statistic. Thanks very much.

Answer 1

Our area is volunteer firefighters/EMT. So the response time can vary greatly. One time it took 1 1/2 hours and it came from out of state. Absolutely ridiculous, but that you cannot control.

Answer 2

I retired from the fire dept a few years ago. served as both EMT and firefighter.  It takes usually less than 30 sec. for the call to be dispatched from the 911 operator. Ambulance personnel can leave the station somewhat faster than firefighters due to the protective equipment that must be worn before climbing into the truck. still a good crew can be out the door in less than 1 min. At that point driving distance and traffic will affect the time. also consider that ambulances and fire trucks are not speed demons. and due to their size may not be able to take the same route as a passenger car would.

SorryI dont know of any stats that can be quoted. since every city and every call are unique I dont thank that any stats could be average.

Answer 3

Well all i found was that the average response time is about 5 mins. In washington DC.  

Answer 4

It's going to be hard to pin down an average.  there are places in Montana that are so remotely removed from everything else that it could take an hour where as I have friends who live directly next door to a hospital and it takes less than five minutes.

Answer 5

it depends how close you live to the rescue centre. if you are only 5 minutes away, then they get there sooner than if you live half an hour away.  

Answer 6

about 2 to 3 minutes  

Answer 7

I'm sure you know that times will vary according to driving conditions such as weather, traffic congestion and distance the responders are coming from.  The EMS service I work for has contracts with the cities we serve and those cities usually specify within that contract what the average response time must be under at the end of the fiscal year.  The time with the cities we serve is usually under 8 minutes.  I don't know of national stats but if local or regional stats will suffice you can contact your local EMS providers or the city officials to obtain the requirements in your area, or see if maybe they have some national stats they can share with you.  Hope this points you in the right direction, sorry couldn't provide some solid numbers for you.