The availability and response times ambulances

Land ambulances are used in the majority of road collisions in Europe. The standardisation of equipment in ambulances in Europe has been recommended, together with the development of appropriate vehicle and driver safety standards, given the considerable number of crashes involving ambulances [7].

A research overview [16] indicates that the faster a road casualty can gain access to expert first aid, the greater the chance of survival and full recovery. Research shows that:

• In general, road traffic deaths increase with increasing ambulance response time which is strongly related to population density
• The proportion of fatal crashes is lowest where ambulance availability is best and highest where ambulance availability is poor.