Police response time to road crashes in south-east of Iran.

OBJECTIVES To investigate post-crash time management by police. METHODS The retrospective study comprised data related to all road traffic crashes from March 2009 to March 2010 in Sistan and Baluchistan province of Iran. Data was retrieved from the standard national form designed for road traffic crashes completed by police officers present at the scene. SPSS 15 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS The median time for police to be informed in the total 2442 accidents was 10 minutes and the police response time was 15-20 minutes for non-fatal cases, while the corresponding duration for fatal cases was 15 minutes and 30 minutes (p < 0.001). Police arrival was not dependent on road condition (p=0.178). DISCUSSION Police arrival at the crash scene was beyond the average response time by Emergency Medical Services in Iran. It is vital to provide quicker ways of informing the police and to have more police stations along the highways.