Epidemiologic Intervention Framework of a Prehospital Emergency Medical Service

Objectives. To describe andanalyze the characteristics of prehospital medical assistance provided by the Madrid Municipal Emergency andCivil Rescue & Protection Service (SAMUR); and, based on the epidemiologic knowledge so gained, to prioritize public health intervention strategies. Methods. A retrospective cross-sectional analysis of all medical services performed by the SAMUR–Proteccion Civil in 2001 and2002. Study variables included causes, response times, hour, day of the week, month, mobile resource, Municipal District, andpathology. For analysis purposes, the relevant data were linked to Access 97 via Open Database Connectivity. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS computer software package, with Spearman's correlation coefficient andanalysis of variance. Values were deemed statistically significant at p < 0.05. Results. The study population comprised the 97,937 and101,438 interventions undertaken in 2001 and2002, respectively. Mean daily activity in 2002 involved 278 alerts (standard d...