Examination of Ambulance Arrival Times by Geoinformatics Tools – Example of Borsod-Abaújzemplén County (Hungary)

Abstract

An essential part of the health system is the ambulance service, whose main task is to provide patients with high quality care. In the spirit of the above, the aim of the study is to explore the spatial characteristics of the ambulance service in a Hungarian territorial unit, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county. The main findings of the study are: - The geographical location of ambulance stations in the county is strongly influenced by geography and demographic characteristics. - The designation of the coverage areas of ambulance station is fundamentally consistent with the access time to the respective ambulance stations. - The accessibility of each settlement from the ambulance station and the time needed to travel the ambulance station - location - hospital route differ for the speed allowed by the Highway Code and for the speed of 60 km/h.