Public awareness and use of 997 emergency medical service phone number during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

BackgroundEmergency medical services (EMSs) are an important element of the healthcare system as it provides an opportunity to respond to critical medical conditions and save people's lives. In Saudi Arabia, EMS is offered via the EMS phone number “997” and mobile application “Asefny”.MethodsThis was an observational cross-sectional survey study exploring public awareness and use of the EMS phone number during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. A bivariate analysis was performed to investigate factors affecting awareness and use of the EMS phone number and to compare the EMS acceptance to transport and timelines of ambulance arrival between requests made via the “997” EMS phone number and the “Asefny” mobile application during the country's emergency lockdown.ResultsA total of 805 participants were included in the analysis, where 66% reported awareness of the EMS phone number and 75% of them accurately identified the nature of the service provided by dialing the number. The men who participated, those with a bachelor's degree, with children, and with chronic conditions were more aware of the EMS phone number compared to the other participants. Of the total sample, 46.7% used EMS phone numbers at least one time (ever users). During the COVID-19 lockdown, the EMS accepted to transport 87% of the calls made by 997 phone number and 56.2% of the mobile application requests (P < 0.00). The ambulance arrived in ≤ 8 min in 53.6% of the 997 phone calls and 35.5% of the Asefny mobile requests (P < 0.00).ConclusionsFindings showed commendable levels of awareness and the use of EMS phone numbers. However, the results suggest room for improvement by developing promotional and educational campaigns inspired by the factors identified as influential on both awareness and use. Mobile applications in EMS are promising to improve prehospital emergency service accessibility, which needs to be further investigated to assess its impact on the public health informatics experience.

Challenges of Emergency Medical Services Utilization by Older Adults in Tabriz, Iran: Data from Health Status of Aged People in Tabriz (HSA-T Study)

“…Similar to the other studies, these results confirmed that EMS has been used by informed older adults more than those who were uninformed. [7][8][9]38 As demonstrated in previous literature, there was a high correlation between awareness and use of services, 8,9 and most often being uninformed about existing services was an obstacle to utilization of services. 7,38 Contrary to this study which showed a greater lack of awareness among women than among men, some previous studies have indicated that male caregivers were more likely to be unaware of the available services.…”

“…7 The awareness and use of services were highly correlated. 8,9 The first meaning of service awareness is knowing that the intended services exist, but service awareness or lack of it is more complex than knowing that the intended services exist. Awareness is defined as being conscious of, having knowledge of, or being informed about it.…”

Strengthening care for emergencies: what is the level of awareness and utilization of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in FCT, Nigeria?

“…The probable reasons for these variations could be differences in urbanization, population density, level of communication, outreaches done in the area council, and historical emergency incidents in the area council. These factors have been noted as major drivers of awareness of emergency medical services in the literature [ 14 , 22 ]. The study also found a statistically significant difference in the level of awareness by gender.…”

“…The emergency care system indirectly impacts mortality and morbidity at all levels of society [ 12 , 13 ]. Hence, emergency care is essential to the health system as it is the first point of contact for many injured, including those in road crashes worldwide [ 7 , 14 ]. However, timely emergency care is not readily available or prohibitively expensive in some regions of the world [ 7 ].…”

The awareness of public about the Emergency Medical Services in the Eastern region of Saudi Arabia

“…Prior research has shed light on the significance of public awareness concerning EMS and its implications for emergency response effectiveness. Studies conducted in Saudi Arabia and other developing countries have explored the extent to which the general population is informed about EMS services and their capabilities [ 6 – 8 ]. These investigations have consistently revealed a noticeable gap in public knowledge regarding EMS functions, availability, and how to access these critical services.…”