Paramedic response time: does it affect patient survival? Acad Emerg Med

Objectives: One marker of quality emergency medical services care is measured by meeting an 8-minute response time guideline. This guideline was based on results of paramedic response times for nontraumatic cardiac arrest patients and has not been studied in unselected patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of paramedic response time on survival to hospital discharge in unselected patients in a large urban setting while controlling for a number of potentially important confoun-ders, including level of illness severity.Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study performed in an urban 911-based ambulance service system. Patients transported by para-medics to a single urban county teaching hospital fro