Publicly funded interfacility ambulance transfers for surgical and obstetrical conditions: A cross sectional analysis in an urban middle-income country setting

Paul Truche; Rachel E. NeMoyer; Sara Patiño-Franco; Juan P. Herrera-Escobar; Myerlandi Torres; Luis F. Pino; Gregory L. Peck

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0241553

Peer Review History

Original SubmissionJanuary 1, 2020
23 Apr 2020 Decision Letter - Denis Bourgeois, Editor PONE-D-20-00032 Publicly Funded Interfacility Ambulance Transfers for Surgical and Obstetrical Conditions: A Cross Sectional Analysis in the Urban Middle-Income Country Setting PLOS ONE Dear Dr NeMoyer, Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process. We would appreciate receiving your revised manuscript by Jun 07 2020 11:59PM. When you are ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file. If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. 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Revision 1
26 Jun 2020 Author Response We are excited to resubmit our manuscript following the proposed changes. We have addressed the reviewer comments as well as made some minor changes to the structure of the discussion in order to improve clarity and readability. We have highlighted areas of the manuscript with major changes in yellow. We addressed the following specific reviewer comments: 1) Abstract, Introduction: LMIC was spelled out (low- and middle-income (LMIC)) 2) Introduction, Line 62: Wording changed as recommended (low and middle income countries (LMICs) population) 3) Introduction, Line 70-72: Three lines were added specific to Colombia, “In Colombia, ambulance access is covered through a national free ambulance service for all Colombian citizens with a large private ambulance sector supplementing transport for those with private insurance. 9 This provide an ideal setting to study the relationship between interfacility transfers and access to surgical care.” 4) Methods, Line 125: IRB protocol number was added from Robert Wood Johnson (Pro 20170000334) 5) Results, Table 1 and 2 were formatted to be easier to interpret 6) Discussion, Line 213: We added in a recent reference regarding Colombia and delays related to fracture care, “In a recent paper, Latin America (including Venezuela and Mexico) had the highest delay of fracture care and the highest proportion of interfacility transfers. There were concerning delays in admission to a hospital in the region [173 (88·7%) with open fractures and 426 (44·7%) with closed fractures] and a significant association between such delays and regional interfacility transfer.” 7) Discussion: We have included reference to the WHO and guided part of the discussion towards how countries can work to adapt research to improving access to surgical care through prehospital care. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241553.r002
19 Oct 2020 Decision Letter - Junaid Ahmad Bhatti, Editor Publicly Funded Interfacility Ambulance Transfers for Surgical and Obstetrical Conditions: A Cross Sectional Analysis in an Urban Middle-Income Country Setting PONE-D-20-00032R1 Dear Dr. NeMoyer, We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements. Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication. An invoice for payment will follow shortly after the formal acceptance. To ensure an efficient process, please log into Editorial Manager at http://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/, click the 'Update My Information' link at the top of the page, and double check that your user information is up-to-date. If you have any billing related questions, please contact our Author Billing department directly at authorbilling@plos.org. If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org. Kind regards, Junaid Ahmad Bhatti Academic Editor PLOS ONE Additional Editor Comments (optional): Reviewers' comments: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241553.r003
Formally Accepted
26 Oct 2020 Acceptance Letter - Junaid Ahmad Bhatti, Editor PONE-D-20-00032R1 Publicly Funded Interfacility Ambulance Transfers for Surgical and Obstetrical Conditions: A Cross Sectional Analysis in an Urban Middle-Income Country Setting Dear Dr. NeMoyer: I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now with our production department. If your institution or institutions have a press office, please let them know about your upcoming paper now to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information please contact onepress@plos.org. If we can help with anything else, please email us at plosone@plos.org. Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access. Kind regards, PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff on behalf of Dr. Junaid Ahmad Bhatti Academic Editor PLOS ONE https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241553.r004

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