• Quelly Mae Rivadillo Ramos, Ki Hong Kim, Jeong Ho Park, Sang Do Shin, Kyoung Jun Song, and Ki Jeong Hong.
• Laboratory of Emergency Medical Services, Seoul National University Hospital Biomedical Research Institute, 101 Daehak-Ro, Jongno-Gu, Seoul 03080, South Korea. Electronic address: quelly.ramos@fulbrightmail.org.
• Resuscitation. 2021 Jan 1; 158: 143-150.

ObjectivesThis study aimed to examine whether county socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with emergency medical service (EMS) response time and dual dispatch response of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients using county property tax per capita in Korea.MethodsAll EMS-treated adults who suffered OHCAs were enrolled between 2015 and 2017, excluding cases witnessed by EMS providers. The main exposure was property tax per capita in the county where the OHCA occurred. The primary outcome was response time interval, with a secondary outcome of dual dispatch response. Negative binomial regression analysis to calculate incidence rate ratio (IRR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was conducted for EMS response time. A multivariable logistic regression analysis for response time interval (<8 min) and dual dispatch response was also conducted.ResultsA total of 71,326 patients in 228 counties were enrolled. Compared to the lowest SES quartile, OHCA patients in the highest SES quartile had shorter median (interquartile range [IQR]) response time intervals (9.5 [5.9] minutes vs. 7.6 [4.2] minutes, IRR [95% CI] 0.95 [0.94-0.96], respectively). The AOR (95% CI) for response time within 8 min was 1.07 (1.01-1.13) for the highest SES quartile compared to the lowest SES quartile. Those in the highest SES quartile also had higher rates of dual dispatch response compared to those in the lowest quantile (50.9% vs 26.6%; AOR [95% CI]: 2.16 [2.03-2.30]).ConclusionIn OHCA patients, those in a lower SES are associated with longer response times and lower dual dispatch response.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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