Overview of doctor-staffed ambulance use in Japan: a nationwide survey and 1-week study.

Doctor-staffed ambulances have the advantage of deployment at night and in urban areas compared to doctor-staffed helicopters. Among the 73 hospitals that responded to the questionnaire, doctor-staffed ambulances were dispatched almost as frequently as doctor-staffed helicopters. However, doctor-staffed ambulances did not receive adequate funding. Future data collection is necessary to determine the efficacy of doctor-staffed ambulances among hospitals that operate this service.