Historically, emergency medical dispatchers (EMDs) do not normally have the opportunity to learn about the outcomes of the patients who they have impacted. More often than not, ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) cases are urgently transported and triaged within the hospital system, and dispatchers are not afforded the opportunity to learn "the rest of the story" about the patient's outcomes. This leaves the EMDs wondering about the patient, not only from a survival standpoint, but also as to whether or not their pre-arrival instructions (PAIs) made an impact on the patient's condition...
For years, rising EMS call volumes have taxed resources in EMS jurisdictions. A significant problem of utilization by frequent 911 callers has contributed to transports and ED utilization, some of which may be unnecessary. Solutions to this have been limited for field providers. Purpose: We wished to both pilot a new EMS partnership with our county's Health and Human Services Agency (HHS) that could intervene with services for these "super-users," and study the scope of the problem, with the goal being appropriate alternate dispositions besides EMS activation. Intervention through referrals...
Northwell Health Center for Emergency Medical Services (CEMS) strives to provide the best prehospital care in the Northeast Region. CEMS Communications, an Accredited Center of Excellence with the IAED, continually monitors the effect of its MPDS system as it applies to our EMS response through Clinical and Communication Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement. The objective of this study was to evaluate MPDS cases handled on Protocol 26 Sick Person (Specific Diagnosis) and compare these with our paramedics' Provider Impressions. The evaluation of this data will look to validate the use of...
Today's wireless 911 location technology is not always precise. As people move away from using landline phones, more and more calls to 911 are being placed from mobile phones, even indoors. In fact, over 70% of 911 calls today are made from mobile phones according, to the FCC. As such, the need exists to improve location accuracy for mobile 911 calls in order to provide fast and reliable 911 response. The objective of this study was to evaluate a potential improvement in wireless 911 location technology by performing a pilot test comparing an existing wireless Phase 2 system to a device-based...
This study is a subset of ongoing research and conversational analysis of recorded 911 calls into a California dispatch center from Spanish-speakers who requested language interpretation in communicating their emergencies. Findings reveal how each participant—callers, calltakers, and language interpreters—affects how emergencies were communicated and understood. This unique study researched the existing procedure when non-English speakers who are facing an emergency and place a 911 call connect with mostly English-speaking dispatchers and are connected to a language interpreter to communicate...
Few studies have described the clinical course and outcome of specific cohorts of patients identified by their 911 call type. Chest pain patients are especially important to study due to the time-sensitive nature of cardiac-related treatment. To describe the clinical course and outcome of patients identified as an MPDS Card 10 (Chest Pain), including the positive predictive value (PPV), with primary Emergency Department (ED) diagnosis. All 911 calls between November 1, 2011 and July 31, 2013, handled on Card 10 and pertaining to a patient...
The evaluation of emergency calls received by Emergency Medical Communication Centers (EMCCs) is the first and most basic step to activating the rescue chain. It also represents an essential prerequisite for an optimal management of critical patients, by optimizing the methods of public medical response and management time. The goal of the study is to evaluate whether the introduction of the Medical Priority Dispatch System™ (MPDS)® made more homogenous the evaluation of emergency calls among the five EMCCs in Liguria (primary) and among the EMCC's call takers in Genoa...
Lee County, Florida, has 108 golf courses. Snowbird season packs the golf courses with many who are older. Medical emergencies: stroke; cardiac arrest; fractures; back injuries; stings; and heat exhaustion are common. Access to patients on golf courses is challenging. Golfers can only see the lanais and back of houses—not street addresses. To design a Graphic Information System (GIS) and Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) solution to identify patient locations using common place names and verified addresses. GIS produced maps of all 108 courses were labeled with possible access points to...
In a previous study, emergency dispatchers were surveyed to determine how stressful it was to handle various 911 calls. Given that it is not possible to change the inherent stress associated with the job of emergency dispatching, it is important to examine additional strains that contribute to making the job more stressful. This is critical for understanding the risk factors that contribute to the increased rate of stress injuries (i.e., acute stress disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, burnout) in this high-risk occupation. The current study examined the four calls that the previous study...
A fast response to an emergency call is one of the main objectives of an emergency medical communication center (EMCC). In 2011, a scripted logic-based dispatch protocol system, the Medical Priority Dispatch System™ (MPDS®), was implemented in the five Liguria Region EMCCs in Italy, to manage emergency medical calls. However, response delay time (RD) (i.e., time from when the call rings to when emergency medical dispatcher [EMD] picks it up) and duration of emergency call (DEC) (i.e., time from call pick up to when the call is closed)...
