To conduct a comprehensive scoping review of the literature on emergency medical services (EMS) in Saudi Arabia, identify research gaps, and propose priorities for future research.
This scoping review identified 1,312 total results, yielding 747 unique articles after the removal of duplicates. These were reviewed by title and abstract for inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of 241 were eligible for full manuscript review, and after full-text review, 206 articles remained and had their data extracted.
The majority of studies (n = 167, 81.1%) were conducted in Saudi Arabia. A notable surge in publications was observed between 2020 and 2022, with 118 manuscripts published during this period. Cross-sectional designs were most common (n = 112, 54.4%), followed by retrospective studies (n = 31, 15%). King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences led institutional contributions (n = 42, 20.4%), followed by King Saud University (n = 36, 17.5%). The most studied topics were the EMS system (n = 61, 29.6%) and EMS providers (n = 57, 27.7%). Outcome domains focused primarily on education (n = 50, 24.3%), health and wellness (n = 30, 14.6%), system development (n = 23, 11.2%) and quality (n = 19, 9.2%).
This review provides the first comprehensive synthesis of EMS-related research in Saudi Arabia, offering a foundational understanding of system trends, identifying current gaps and informing future research priorities aimed at improving prehospital care in the Kingdom.
