INTRODUCTIONThe location of ambulance stations are of great importance, as location is a determining factor of whether ambulances are able to respond to emergency calls within the critical period. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the ambulance stations in the provincial centre of Samsun, Turkey, were able to cover their entire operational area within 10 mins of receiving an emergency call.

METHODSThis study was based on emergency calls received by the emergency medical services of the study area. Detailed address data from the calls was used to produce thematic maps using the geographic information system (GIS). Buffer analysis was used to determine the adequacy of the stations' locations in relation to the time taken to respond to the emergency calls.

RESULTSIn the study area, there were a total of 11,506 emergency ambulance calls made in 2009, which revealed a call density of 0.7 calls per ha and 23.8 calls per 1,000 population. A total of 75.8% of the calls were made due to medical reasons, while 11.6% were related to traffic accidents. The GIS-based investigation revealed that the 10-min coverage areas for the four ambulance stations in the provincial centre of Samsun served 76.9% of the area and 97.9% of its population. Of the 10,380 calls for which detailed address data were available, 99.2% were within the stations' 10-min coverage areas.

CONCLUSIONAccording to the buffer analysis, the ambulance stations in the provincial centre of Samsun are able to reach 97.9% of the population within the critical 10-min response time. This study demonstrates that GIS is an indispensable tool for processing and analysing spatial data, which can in turn aid decision-making in the field of geographical epidemiology and public health.

Ambulances ; statistics & numerical data ; Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems ; Emergency Medical Services ; statistics & numerical data ; Geographic Information Systems ; Humans ; Risk Factors ; Rural Health Services ; Time Factors ; Turkey