Predicting demand for emergency ambulance service.

We examined community demand for prehospital emergency medical services and found that demand was highly correlated with population in the communities studied. Further differences in demand are related to median income, percentage of the population more than 65 years old, and percentage living below the poverty level. Higher median income is related to lower demand; percentage more than 65 years old and percentage living below the poverty level are related to higher demand. In practical terms, this means that demand is greatest in those communities with the lowest incomes, an issue that must be examined as increasing responsibility is placed on local community services.