Table 1 Agency response code and target response times with examples of MPDS determinants
Agency response priority codeDefinition8Target response times (90th percentile)Example of MPDS determinant
Code 1A time-critical (urgent) case13 minutes9All delta, eg chest pain associated with severe respiratory distress (10D1)
Code 2Acute non-time-critical (non-urgent) case25 minutesCharlie and bravo, some alpha, eg, headache, sudden onset of severe pain (18C4)
Code 3Non-acute or routine case60 minutesMostly alpha, eg, sick person no priority symptoms (26A1)

  • For the purposes of analysis, pain severity was collated into four categories (see table 2). MPDS, medical priority dispatch system.