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Lights and sirens cut critical care transfer times

The Effect of Lights and Sirens on Critical Care Transport Time
The Journal of Emergency Medicine · Added 23 April 2026

They measured whether lights and sirens meaningfully shorten critical care transport, and found a statistically significant but modest time saving of about 8 minutes.

Study type

Cohort

Design

Retrospective single-system analysis of administrative data, distance-matched transport routes

Participants

Not reported (interfacility transports by one urban US critical care transport service)

Main finding

Lights and sirens were used in 7.3% of transports, most strongly for transport direct to theatre (OR 15.8, 95% CI 6.32–39.50); median transport time 33 vs 41 min, about 8 min (19.5%) saved, with the largest saving in rush hour

Caveat

Single urban US interfacility critical care service, retrospective; no patient outcomes or crash and safety data reported

Bottom line

Context only

Learning goal

Weigh the benefits and risks of lights and sirens transport for patients already receiving prehospital resuscitation.

More

• Topic: Operations & systems
• Daily scan: 23 April 2026

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