The association between the experience of lay responders and response interval to medical emergencies in a rural area: an observational study

AIM: The aim of this retrospective observational study was to determine how response intervals correlated to the experience of the community first responders (CFRs) using data collected from the Danish Island of Langeland via a global positioning system (GPS)-based system. METHODS: All medical emergency calls involving CFRs in the time period from 21st of April 2012 to 31st of December 2017 were included. Each emergency call activated 3 CFRs. Response intervals were calculated using the time from when the system alerted the CFRs to CFR time of arrival at the emergency site measured by GPS. CFRs response intervals were grouped depending on their level of experience according to ≤ 10, 11–24, 25–49, 50–99, ≥ 100 calls accepted and arrived on-site. RESULTS: A total of 7273 CFR activations were included. Median response interval for the CFR arriving first on-site (n = 3004) was 4:05 min (IQR 2:42–6:01) and median response interval for the arrival of the CFR with an automated external defibrillator (n = 2594) was 5:46 min (IQR 3:59–8:05). Median response intervals were 5:53 min (3:43–8:29) for ≤ 10 calls (n = 1657), 5:39 min (3:49–8:01) for 11–24 calls (n = 1396), 5:45 min (3:49–8:00) for 25–49 calls (n = 1586), 5:07 min (3:38–7:26) for 50–99 calls (n = 1548) and 4:46 min (3:14–7:32) for ≥ 100 calls (n = 1086) (p < 0.001). There was a significant negative correlation between experience and response intervals (p < 0.001, Spearman’s rho = -0.0914). CONCLUSION: This study found an inverse correlation between CFR experience and response intervals, which could lead to increased survival after a time-critical incident.