Just wondering what the EMS response times are like in your area?

Some of my friends think I’m crazy when we go out for having such a large kit in the back of the car. The average response time where I am is just under 20mins but can be much longer.

An example of this is highlighted by a case about a month ago where a patient suffered a cardiac arrest at a small ski field. The first ambulance arrived on scene 1h 15m after the call came in, shortly followed by the helicopter. The patient survived mainly due to the fact that he received CPR within the first minute of dropping and was defibrillated within the first 5mins by ski patrol. He had ROSC with the first shock and was managed from then on.

If he had dropped in the town 15 minutes down the road then ski patrol would not have attended and the first ambulance would have arrived approx 1hour post collapse. With no defib the outcome would have probably been very different.

I’ve been trying to convince my parents to get an AED at home as they live in the UK approx 25mins from the nearest ambulance and my dad is a walking heart attack.

So what are response times like in your area and what, if anything, do you have planned if they are long?