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Where are you? The problem of location during emergencies

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  • Elena Lucchese

Abstract

Rapid response to an emergency call is crucial to its outcome, but little is known about the determinants of response time. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, it is shown that the time it takes to find the patient's location accounts for 30% of response time. The analysis compares the time required to cover each segment of the ambulance trip - from the hospital to the patient's location and then back to the hospital - according to whether the patient is at home or at some other location that responders can more easily locate. The magnitude of the effect does not appear to be affected by the distance travelled. It is suggested that introducing a technology that gives care providers precise information about a patient's location would substantially improve performance at a minimal cost.

Suggested Citation

  • Elena Lucchese, 2020. "Where are you? The problem of location during emergencies," Working Papers 439, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2020.
    • Handle: RePEc:mib:wpaper:439
    as

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    File URL: http://repec.dems.unimib.it/repec/pdf/mibwpaper439.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ambulance; Emergency; Organizational Performance; Response Time.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D29 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Other
    • D90 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

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