The response and transport intervals of an ambulance dispatch are affected by various factors. The present ambulance system relies on the driver’s experience, knowledge of local road map and estimations of directions. These may contribute to delays, misdirection and inefficient utilization of resources. The objectives of this study were to assess the effects of GPS navigation device on the response and transport time intervals of an ambulance service operating in urban setting. This was a three-month experimental study involving simulated ambulance dispatch based in a hospital. A total of 50 simulated cycles were constructed. Travel time, arrival time and distance were documented from each cycle. The median actual response time using map and GPS navigation device was 11.82 min and 10.47 min respectively. The median actual transport time using map and GPS navigation device was 11.00 min and 10.74 min respectively. The differences in response time and transport time between map and GPS navigation were not statistically significant (p= 0.215 and p=0.710). The application of GPS reduced the error value between estimated and actual response time by 8.73%. It also reduced the mean error value between estimated and actual transport time by 1.42%. The result shows that the GPS navigation device allowed for more accurate travel time estimation and its application in an urban setting such as Kuala Lumpur has the potential to reduce ambulance response time.
Emergency ; GPS navigation ; Prehospital care ; Response time ; Transport time

The response and transport intervals of an ambulance dispatch are affected by various factors. The present ambulance system relies on the driver’s experience, knowledge of local road map and estimations of directions. These may contribute to delays, misdirection and inefficient utilization of resources. The objectives of this study were to assess the effects of GPS navigation device on the response and transport time intervals of an ambulance service operating in urban setting. This was a three-month experimental study involving simulated ambulance dispatch based in a hospital. A total of 50 simulated cycles were constructed. Travel time, arrival time and distance were documented from each cycle. The median actual response time using map and GPS navigation device was 11.82 min and 10.47 min respectively. The median actual transport time using map and GPS navigation device was 11.00 min and 10.74 min respectively. The differences in response time and transport time between map and GPS navigation were not statistically significant (p= 0.215 and p=0.710). The application of GPS reduced the error value between estimated and actual response time by 8.73%. It also reduced the mean error value between estimated and actual transport time by 1.42%. The result shows that the GPS navigation device allowed for more accurate travel time estimation and its application in an urban setting such as Kuala Lumpur has the potential to reduce ambulance response time.