Introduction. The aim of the emergency medical system is to provide qualifi ed prehospital care and rapid transport to hospital for the patients during life-threatening event. In Poland the tasks of medical lifesaving system are regulated by the Act of 25 July 2001.

The aim of the study was to compare the frequency, causes and type of interventions of emergency care providers and ambulance arrival times in January and July in the years 2000 and 2005.

Material and methods. Data from medical records of the Ambulance Station in Dąbrowa Górnicza were collected. A sample of 3896 emergency calls was analysed.

Results. Data analysis showed that in 2005, the number of ambulance interventions was 368 less than it was in 2000. Both median and mean ambulance arrival times were similar in 2000 and 2005 in urban and rural populations. The main reasons for interventions were cardiovascular diseases (20.4%). Initial diagnosis of unconsciousness turned out to be most frequently inappropriate After fi rst aid, the patients of Basic Life Support (BLS) ground ambulance stayed mainly at home (54.5%) and Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulance patients – continued treatment in hospital (68.3%).