The emergency medical services of Madrid tested: analysis of the spatial-temporal performance of SAMUR-PC in the first months of the postCOVID-19 new normality period

Abstract

Those requiring emergency health care cannot wait. Ambulances must arrive at the scene as quickly as possible. Ambulances are usually assigned to bases distributed throughout the city to minimize arrival time to the event. However, the spatial distribution of events changes during the day according to people's rhythm and city use. This paper evaluates, through location-allocation modelling, the Spatio-temporal performance of SAMUR-PC, the Emergency Medical Service of Madrid (Spain), in two different scenarios, before the COVID-19 pandemic and during the first months of the new normality period. The results show that the system responded relatively well to the change in event patterns due to the pandemic. However, some interventions would have been necessary to guarantee the same service as before the epidemiological crisis.