Identifying and Conceptualizing the Improvement Dimensions of Pre-hospital Emergency Time Indicators in Qazvin City, Iran: A Qualitative Study

Pre-hospital care is crucial in supervising and handling urgent patients and medical crises. Emergency medical centers’ swifter response and heightened precision lead to time efficiency and alleviate the burden on hospital capacities. This research pinpoints the influential factors contributing to the enhancement of pre-hospital emergency time indicators at Qazvin University of Medical Sciences.

In this research, a qualitative methodology using the content analysis technique was adopted to explore and derive influential elements to enhance time-based metrics. Information was gathered via semi-structured interviews, involving 10 individuals, including authorities, academic personnel, technicians, and specialized physicians stationed within educational and medical institutions’ emergency units. These participants were selected via purposeful sampling. Following the categorization and interconnection of these categories, a conceptual framework was formulated.

A total of 14 overarching aspects, encompassing staff readiness, skilled workforce, human resource administration, infrastructure and institutional amenities, communication and information technology oversight, intelligence, impactful environmental elements, patient-linked variables, proficient scene management elements, adherence to national protocols, contextual factors, inter-organizational harmony and collaboration, noteworthy attributes of the receiving treatment center, and feasibility of catering to the vulnerable populace resulted in the identification of a total of 41 influential constituents.

The research findings demonstrated that enhancements in base quantity, ambulance count, provisioning superior and top-tier equipment, augmenting staff numbers, designing enhanced training schemes for emergency medical services team members, and integrating contemporary technology and equipment could serve as viable resolutions for advancing time indicators.