Analysis of 911 Calls in the United States using the NEMSIS Dataset, 2018-2023

<p dir="ltr">What explains the variation in ambulance response times to a toned medical emergency? Paramedics hear dispatch tone their ambulance for a 911 call over the radio: "<i>Medic 11, I need you to respond to 123 Brown Street, for a </i><i>41-year old</i><i> male complaining of chest pain.</i>" We have nationwide NEMSIS data (over 350 million records) from 2018-2023 that enables us to examine the variation in chute times as a function of age, gender, rural/urban scores, and call type as dispatched, among others. Dispatchers select a "call type" from one of 36 types in a pull down menu, from "unknown/person down" to overdose, choking or allergic reaction.</p><p dir="ltr">We hypothesize that response times uncover the existence of a latent, subconscious rank-ordering of calls by perceived urgency. </p><p dir="ltr"> H1:<i> </i>Response speed is a proxy for perceived urgency. </p><p dir="ltr">H2: If a common set of ideas has created a relative rank ordering of types by perceived urgency, then both dispatch and squad response times should align by call type</p><p dir="ltr">H3: Ceteris paribus, both dispatchers and squads will respond more slowly to the most frequently dispatched call types. </p><p dir="ltr"><br></p>