Document is current

Article History

Received: 25 September 2024

Accepted: 14 May 2026

First Online: 23 May 2026

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study site is a non-profit organization operating under the Department of Health, Sindh, Pakistan. This EMS organization routinely records patient information as part of its regular activities and documentation processes. For every critical case requiring ambulance transport for a medical emergency, the on-duty staff obtains consent from the patient’s attendant, acknowledging the risks associated with the transfer, for which the attendant or patient assumes responsibility. This is also part of routine activity approved by the authorities and is not specific to any research. For this study, we conducted a retrospective analysis using anonymized organizational records provided by the EMS organization's Data Unit. The study involved no direct patient contact or identification, and as a result, tracking patients for consent was not feasible. Therefore, we obtained an exemption from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the Sindh Institute of Child Health and Neonatology (SICHN) to conduct a retrospective analysis under IRB ID: IRB ID SICHN/EX-010/2024. This study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki.

Consent for publication: Not applicable.

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.