Haven't yet seen a developed nation do worse than the US. If you prefer to compare against developing countries only, sure, winning by lowering the bar to the ground is an option.
The US also has decent EMS response times. If you adjust for population density, the US has fantastic response times.
I.e. I was responding to the original "in 'most of the world' EMS quality is ass.", trying to say that you only get that outcome if you compare apples and oranges (developed vs developing)
8-10 minutes in urban areas is pretty much universal (for the developed world). Rural areas are where differences come in, and even there standards for the developed world are somewhat on the same level.