2014

While teaching a Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS®) refresher course in Canton, Illinois, USA, at the Canton County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center, I was asked an interesting question by a student “What do you do when a second party caller doesn’t know the answer to your questions?” The student’s question was inspired by a recent investigation request from the 911 center’s local fire department involving a case dispatched as a BRAVO-level response to a fall patient. Emergency medical...

Addison’s disease is a rare, chronic condition brought on by failure of the adrenal glands, affecting people of all ages. It affects the production of cortisol and aldosterone, both essential in the body’s functioning. A very low level of cortisol can be life threatening, since cortisol regulates blood pressure and the immune system, balances the effect of insulin, and helps the body respond to stress. Aldosterone helps to control blood pressure and regulate salts in the blood. Symptoms of...

Clinical call handlers use a clinical decision support software system (CDSS) called the Emergency Communication Nurse System™ (ECNS™) to further triage calls considered eligible for secondary triage post the interaction the patient or caller had with the Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD). EMDs use a primary emergency triage system called Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS®) to triage callers accessing 911 services. This call involved a teenage boy calling 999 in England, UK, on behalf of...

It was fairly early one day when a young man about 40 years of age called in to the 112 emergency line and asked for an ambulance. The reason was chest pains. He was very calm and “showed“ no signs through the phone that he was in pain or any kind of distress. So I asked him if the patient was himself or if he had someone with him that he was calling for. He replied that he was indeed the patient, and when asked about the chest pain, he said that he had had some discomfort since late the night...