Yasin BİLGİN, Fatih Mehmet SARI
The European Research Journal - 2026;12(9):1058-1064
Objective: To evaluate seasonal and time-of-day variations in station-to-scene ambulance travel times and assess potential interaction effects between these temporal factors among trauma patients attended by emergency medical services (EMS) in Erzincan, Türkiye. Methods: This retrospective observational study analyzed regional database records of trauma-related EMS activations resulting in ambulance transport between December 1, 2024, and November 30, 2025. Ambulance travel time was defined as the exact interval (in seconds) between station departure and scene arrival. Travel times were compared across 4 seasons and 3 operational shifts (nighttime, daytime, and evening) using 1-way and 2-way analysis of variance. Results: A total of 7417 trauma-related EMS activations were analyzed. The mean (SD) age of the cohort was 39.44 (24.03) years, 63.6% (n = 4715) involved male patients, and the overall mean (SD) ambulance travel time was 515.80 (648.60) seconds. Travel times did not exhibit statistically significant variations across seasons (P = .229). Conversely, a statistically significant difference was observed based on the time-of-day (P = .045), with the longest intervals occurring during the evening shift (536.07 seconds) and the shortest during the daytime shift (496.03 seconds). Post hoc analysis identified a significant disparity exclusively between daytime and evening shifts, with a mean difference of approximately 40.04 seconds (P = .034). No significant interaction was found between season and time of day (P = .368). Conclusions: In this regional dataset, station-to-scene ambulance travel times for trauma activations demonstrated stable seasonal performance but minor time-of-day fluctuations, with slightly prolonged travel times during evening shifts. Future prospective multicenter studies integrating traffic density indexes and clinical outcomes are warranted.
