Background This work was to study the prehospital time among suspected stroke patients who were transported by an emergency medical service (EMS) system using a national database. Methods National EMS database of suspected stroke patients who were treated by EMS system across 77 provinces of Thailand between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2018, was retrospectively analyzed. Demographic data (i.e., regions, shifts, levels of ambulance, and distance to the scene) and prehospital time (i.e., dispatch, activation, response, scene, and transportation time) were extracted. Time parameters were also categorized according to the guidelines. Results Total 53,536 subjects were included in the analysis. Most of the subjects were transported during 06.00-18.00 (77.5%) and were 10 km from the ambulance parking (80.2%). Half of the subjects (50.1%) were served by advanced life support (ALS) ambulance. Median total time was 29 min (IQR 21, 39). There was a significant difference of median total time among ALS (30 min), basic (27 min), and first responder (28 min) ambulances, Holm P = 0.009. Although 91.7% and 88.3% of the subjects had dispatch time ≤ 1 min and activation time ≤ 2 min, only 48.3% had RT ≤ 8 min. However, 95% of the services were at the scene ≤ 15 min. Conclusion Prehospital time from EMS call to hospital was approximately 30 min which was mainly utilized for traveling from the ambulance parking to the scene and transporting patients from the scene to hospitals. Even though only 48% of the services had RT ≤ 8 min, 95% of them had the scene time ≤ 15 min.

Background: This study was to study the prehospital time among suspected stroke patients who were transported by emergency medical service (EMS) system using national database. Methods: National EMS database across 77 provinces of Thailand among suspected stroke patients who were treated by EMS system between January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2018 was retrospectively analyzed. Demographic data (i.e., regions, shifts, levels of ambulance and distance to scene) and prehospital time (i.e., dispatch, activation, response, scene and transportation times) were extracted. Time parameters were also categorized according to guideline. Results: In total 53,536 subjects were included in analysis. Most of the subjects were transported during 06.00-18.00 and were in 10 kilometers from ambulance parking. Half of the subjects were treated by advanced life support (ALS) ambulance. Median total time was 29 minutes (IQR: 21, 39) which was mainly occupied for transporting patient from scene to hospital. Although most of subjects had dispatch and activation times ≤ 2 minutes, but only 48.3% had RT ≤ 8 minutes. However, 95% of service were at scene ≤ 15 minutes. ALS ambulance had the longer total time, compared to first responder and basic level (30 minutes versus 28 and 27 minutes). Conclusions: Prehospital time from EMS call to hospital was approximately 30 minutes among suspected stroke patients. This was mainly utilized for travelling from ambulance parking to scene and transporting patient from scene to hospital. Although only 48% of services had RT ≤ 8 minutes, but 95% of them had scene time ≤ 15 minutes.