Emergency services reach the scene of half of road accidents in less than 12 minutes, according to a study published on Thursday by the Vias Institute.
The median response time across the country is 11 minutes and 42 seconds. In 95% of cases, emergency teams arrive within 26 minutes and 49 seconds, an improvement of approximately two and a half minutes between 2021 and 2024.
Brussels has the fastest response times, with a median slightly above 10 minutes. Flanders follows at 11 minutes and 30 seconds, while Wallonia, with its more rural terrain and scattered emergency centres, records the slowest times, with a median of 12 minutes and 40 seconds.
In Hainaut, Liège, and Namur, urban areas have response times comparable to Flanders’ median. However, delays increase significantly in the south of the Sambre and Meuse valley.
Hannut, located in Liège province, boasts the quickest median intervention time at 8 minutes and 19 seconds. In contrast, Habay, in Luxembourg province, sees the longest, at 16 minutes and 26 seconds.
Nationally, Rhode-Saint-Genèse, a Flemish municipality near Brussels, records the highest response time, at 17 minutes.
The study also highlights disparities in emergency response in less densely populated areas, where median times are 60% slower than in urban zones. Night-time response is slightly slower than during the day, with a median of 12 minutes and 30 seconds compared to 11 minutes and 42 seconds.
Prompt emergency intervention is crucial for victims’ survival, particularly in cases of severe haemorrhaging, as most fatalities occur within the first 30 minutes, the Vias Institute stressed.
