A University of Wisconsin study of more than 26,000 ambulance transports assessing the time saved by using lights and sirens has received national recognition from the leading professional organization in emergency medical services (EMS).
The study, Estimated Time Savings Using Lights and Sirens During Ambulance Transport, was led by Dr. Michael Spigner, an assistant professor in the Division of Prehospital Medicine and director of prehospital research and informatics. He received the Best Scientific Presentation award at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the National Association of EMS Physicians, or NAEMSP, held in Tampa in January.
The conference drew 350 research abstract submissions, all reviewed and scored in a blinded process by the organization’s Research Committee. Spigner’s study was selected for a plenary oral abstract, placing it among the meeting’s most influential research presentations.
“Lights and sirens are commonly used to help EMS clinicians reach patients quickly during emergencies. However, they also triple the risk of ambulance crashes — posing danger to patients and bystanders — and are the leading cause of occupational death for paramedics in the United States,” Spigner said. “Despite these risks, lights and sirens are used in one of every four EMS transports nationally.”
The question at the center of Spigner’s study — whether the amount of time saved by using lights and sirens is worth the risk — is contentious in the EMS community.
Previous studies have estimated that lights and sirens shorten ambulance trips by 42 seconds to just under four minutes — a time difference unlikely to affect outcomes for most patients, according to Spigner. But those findings were based on fewer than 300 cases because researchers needed to physically retrace ambulance routes under non-emergent conditions to produce their results.
That manual process is labor-intensive and difficult to replicate at scale. Critics have questioned whether results drawn from such limited samples can be generalized to other EMS systems.
Spigner took a different approach that enabled him to generate estimates at far greater scale.
Using Google Maps, a modern transportation model, he predicted the length of 26,773 non-emergent ambulance trips in and around Madison, Wisconsin, covering an area of more than 4,000 square kilometers of urban and rural terrain. After confirming that the model’s predictions accurately reflected real-world ambulance travel without lights and sirens, he compared the predicted times with actual times that used lights and sirens.
The result: lights and sirens were associated with shorter transport times across the EMS system — but the median benefit was modest, about 3 to 3.3 minutes per trip, or roughly 18 seconds per kilometer.
More important than the precise number, Spigner argues, is the method. Because the approach relies on widely available mapping technology, it can be replicated quickly and at a relatively low cost by EMS systems across the country.
“Our methodology makes it possible for EMS agencies anywhere to generate their own data and make informed decisions on the safe and optimal use of lights and sirens,” Spigner said. “Local insights are important to guide policy and align perceptions among frontline clinicians.”
The study arrives amid continued national debate over the cases when speed outweighs risk in emergency response. According to Spigner, lights and sirens will likely remain a core tool in emergency care, but their use should be treated as a clinical intervention that demands careful selection.
“Further research is needed to determine the conditions that truly justify the use of lights and sirens during transport, but our work emphasizes the need for a more selective, evidence-based approach that prioritizes the safety of patients, EMS clinicians and the public,” he said.
Spigner’s efforts reflect his broader focus on prehospital informatics, an emerging area of EMS that uses data systems and analytics to guide operational and clinical decisions. He previously received the inaugural NAEMSP/Stryker EMS Medicine Early Career Medical Director Award to support that line of work here at UW.
Michael Spigner, MD, NRP is board certified in Emergency Medicine, Emergency Medical Services, and Clinical Informatics. He serves local emergency medical services as Medical Director for Belleville EMS and Brooklyn Fire & EMS, and Associate Medical Director for the Madison Fire Department. He is also an officer for the NAEMSP’s Wisconsin chapter.
Collaborators: Megan Gussick, MD, Manish N. Shah, MD, MPH
This project was supported by a pilot grant from the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine.